The Best Laid Plans, Episode V
by OpticalRacer
Summary: After a botched bounty hunt that got Soraa, Ja'Ina and their comrades entangled in the war between the Empire and Rebellion, they meet a mysterious Jedi named Spiare. The pirates and Jedi barely escaped pursuit, but not without casualties. But will their escape improve their situation? OC-centric, set 0 BBY (right before), rated T for violence/language/themes like the film.
1. Chapter 1

**Best Laid Plans – A Star Wars Serial Adventure**

* * *

_Author's Note: While I have created these characters and situations, it all resides in the Star Wars Universe originally conceived by George Lucas._

_This story was conceived in an episodic, serial form. To read the previous episodes of this story, please go to:_

_www fanfiction net/s/8366512/1/The-Best-Laid-Plans-Episode-I _

_www fanfiction net/s/8479640/1/The-Best-Laid-Plans-Episode-II_

_www fanfiction net/s/8647198/1/The-Best-Laid-Plans-Episode-III  
_

_www fanfiction net/s/8771880/1/The-Best-Laid-Plans-Episode-IV_

_(just need to add the missing periods, I apologize for that inconvenience)_

* * *

**Episode V**

Soraa and Ja'Ina are finally living the life of excitement they've always wanted, as part of the crew of the pirate ship _Queen Valkyrie_, captained by Berini, a former Imperial Navy officer.

The band of pirates took on a bounty hunt that pulled them unwittingly into the conflict between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance, a conflict which continues to spread into the further reaches of the galaxy.

While being pursued by an Imperial Star Destroyer, the _Queen Valkyrie_ sustained damage and casualties including Soraa, who was badly wounded in the attack before the ship escaped into hyperspace…

* * *

**Chapter One**

Everyone aboard the _Queen Valkyrie_ gathered in the large common room, as was the procedure Berini had set in place for emergency situations such as this. Mylyn, Krivan and Gartia remained on the bridge to ensure the ship maintained stability during the flight through hyperspace.

The situation was chaotic – the badly-wounded were laid on the conference table while the lesser-wounded sat in chairs or on the floor. Medpacs were strewn everywhere, being used to treat the various injuries in the best way possible in the make-shift triage. Unfortunately, medpacs were meant only for general first-aid in a field setting so they were less-than-adequate for many of the injuries. Soraa and the others with the more serious wounds really needed actual hospital facilities. The air was filled with the constant din of the crew trying to handle the emergency situation.

Ja'Ina and Spiaré were tending to Soraa the best they could. The rest of the crew accepted the Jedi's presence in spite of the fact that he was still technically their prisoner.

Berini was walking around the room, inspecting the wounded, talking to everyone she could. She wanted to make sure her crew knew she was there and cared about each and every one of them. Her double-breasted, uniform-like jacket was opened, revealing stains of blood from the wounded on the shirt underneath. Aurelia was there as well, hovering very close to the Captain as if the teen were tethered to her with a tractor beam. Berini took a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her forehead as walked over to the head of the table. She pounded her fist on the table like a gavel to get everyone's attention. A hush fell across the room.

"Alright everyone! Sound off!"

The crew then proceeded to call out their names and the names of those present who could not speak for themselves. The names of three crewmembers were not called out – first officer Myrrna, Zeltron chief engineer Haani, and a human crewmate named Viru.

Berini was very concerned for the absent crew. "Does anyone know where Myrrna, Haani and Viru are?"

A Mirialan named Tedaai stepped forward, sobbing and thoroughly disheveled. "Captain… V-Viru's dead… I was with her in the starboard corridor when…when a blast tore into the hull. S-she was sucked out of the ship, and I-I barely made it p-p-past the containment door…" Her voice trailed off as she put her face in her hands and cried.

Berini walked briskly over to the devastated woman and hugged her. "It's okay my dear. There was nothing else you could do. You can go back to your quarters and rest."

Tedaai straightened up her posture and composed herself. "I-if it's okay with you Ma'am, I want to remain here and help."

Berini smiled and squeezed the woman's shoulder. "Very well."

Myrrna just then barged into the room, holding a lifeless Zeltron in her arms. The Zeltron's body was covered with serious burns and her clothes were burned and shredded. Myrrna was similarly burned, though not as seriously as the chief engineer. "Haani is dead, Berini." In the stress of the situation, Myrrna's voice actually expressed some emotion. "The engine room was hit and we were caught in an explosion. She took the brunt of it."

Fitty silently rolled in behind Myrrna. His cylindrical body was singed from helping fight the engine room fire. Everyone present remained silent as Myrrna gently laid Haani on the floor in the corner and covered her with a sheet. After a few respectful moments, everyone went back to work. Myrrna slumped to the floor next to the Zeltron's body, exhausted.

Even though the room was crowded and everyone was bunched close together, everyone was too busy to notice that Spiaré held his hands on Soraa's exposed wounds as he stood over her. He bowed his head down and closed his eyes. Ja'Ina watched him, unsure of what he was doing.

Soraa was still unconscious, but it appeared she was breathing more steadily and deeply now. Ja'Ina crouched down and looked more closely at Spiaré's hands. With amazement, she saw that the particular wounds the Jedi's hands were in contact with started to slowly close up. Ja'Ina sprang back to her feet.

Ja'Ina urgently whispered to him, "Spiaré! How are you doing that?"

Spiaré did not answer; instead he stood perfectly still, as if in a trance. Ja'Ina then closed her eyes and tried to block out the chaos around her. She then felt through the Force his energy swarming gently but powerfully around him. It was more power than anything she ever felt with Kurloh. The energy felt soothing, healing. Then Ja'Ina had a revelation. _Healing!_

Kurloh had told Ja'Ina that there were many powers and abilities within the Force, but she never mentioned the ability to heal. Ja'Ina thought to herself, _is there anything a Jedi can't do?_

Kurloh walked over, also drawn by Spiaré's energy. She kept it to herself and hoped that no one else noticed what he was doing. She shot Ja'Ina a surprised expression.

Spiaré slowly moved his hands to a different set of wounds and continued. After a few moments, he started to slightly tremble and his face no longer showed an expression of serenity. Both Kurloh and Ja'Ina could feel his energy begin to destabilize. Spiaré fought the exhaustion for a few more moments, trying to work on the current wounds. He was only able to partially heal them when he pulled his hands away and dropped to his knees out of breath.

"I'm okay," Spiaré quietly said to Ja'Ina and Kurloh. "I just need to rest for a bit. I'll go sit out of the way."

The Jedi slowly stood up with the young women's help, but he was a bit unsteady on his feet.

Ja'Ina turned to her friend. "Ku, stay with Soraa. I'll help him."

"Okay, Ina. I'll make sure she doesn't go anywhere." The Togruta smiled, in spite of the grim situation.

With Ja'Ina's help, Spiaré slowly walked out of the conference room and sat against the wall right outside the door. The young woman crouched down in front of him. Spiaré looked at her, regarding her attractiveness and scanty choice of clothing.

"Oh, if only I were twenty years younger…" He gave her a weak smile as he ruffled his salt-and-pepper hair.

Ja'Ina blushed, but her honey-brown complexion did not readily show it. "Are you serious? Look at me!" She gestured to the dirt and blood all over her – Soraa's blood.

"It'll wash off." He gestured to his own similarly-stained clothes.

"Yeah, but a girl's gotta keep herself up!" She smiled back at him and tried to touch up her messed-up raven hair. "Isn't a Jedi supposed to _not_ get emotionally involved with someone else?"

"The Jedi Code's stance on relationships was not quite that straightforward, but that was the generally-accepted interpretation. How do you know about that anyway?"

"Ku told me about the Jedi Order. She knows a lot about it."

Spiaré raised an eyebrow. "Oh _really_?"

"She tried to find as much information about the Jedi and the Force as she could, but it was difficult to do."

"I'm sure it was! Such research is enough to raise more than a couple of eyebrows from authorities these days. And the last thing a Force-sensitive wants is to attract the Empire's attention."

Ja'Ina silently nodded in agreement.

Berini stepped out into the corridor and stood imposingly tall over Spiaré and Ja'Ina.

The Captain spoke sternly, but without anger. "What was all that about back there?"

Ja'Ina stood up. "What do you mean, Captain?"

"Him," Berini said as she pointed open-handedly toward Spiaré. "What was he doing?"

"Uhhhh-"

"I was simply working to heal Soraa," Spiaré said while slowly standing up. He braced himself against the bulkhead as he rose.

"Well," Berini put her hands on her hips, "you probably noticed that we are ill-equipped for this level of casualties. Are you going to help heal the others?"

"Berini, he can't do any more right now!"

"Ja'Ina, stand down. I asked _him_." Berini sounded like a mother about to ground her daughter for back-talking her.

Spiaré took a deep breath. "It's okay, Ja'Ina. She's right; there are others who need my help."

"But you can't right now," Ja'Ina whimpered. "You're too weak."

Berini cocked her head. "Master Jedi, I would appreciate that you not play favorites around here!"

Spiaré deeply exhaled. "I assure you Captain that was not my intention. Soraa just happened to be the first. I swear to you I'll do all I can."

"I _will_ hold you to that, Master Jedi." Berini looked at Ja'Ina with an expression of annoyance. The young woman averted her eyes down to her feet.

"Don't worry, Captain," Spiaré said. He smiled at Ja'Ina and walked back into the conference room.

Berini turned to Ja'Ina. "You! What is with you and this Jedi? Hmm?"

"Nothing, Berini. He just happened to be there to help me rescue Soraa from the turret."

"Is that why you ran out of the bridge just before we jumped?"

Ja'Ina broke out in a cold sweat. Suddenly, she realized that she may have accidentally revealed her extraordinary abilities to Berini.

Berini prodded again. "How did you know that Soraa needed help?"

Ja'Ina stood as still as a statue, trying very hard to not show her nervousness toward Berini's inquisition. The young woman had wild thoughts of Berini personally spacing her for being a Force user; even more so for not even divulging that little detail.

"I'm waiting…" Berini crossed her arms and impatiently huffed.

Ja'Ina had to come up with something quickly, but she had nothing better than, "I was just worried about her and wanted to be with her. I didn't know she was in trouble until I got there." She avoided eye contact with the Captain as she spoke.

It seemed that Berini harbored some kind of animosity towards the Jedi. Ja'Ina thought, _is it from her days with the Empire?_

It appeared that Berini didn't quite buy the explanation, but she let it go anyway. "Alright. Go back in there and ensure he makes good on his promise to me. I am holding you _personally_ responsible for him."

"Yes, Captain," Ja'Ina sheepishly answered with a slight nod.

The young woman walked back into the conference room as Aurelia walked out. Ja'Ina gave the teen a gentle smile, which the latter ignored as she trotted into Berini's waiting arms.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

* * *

Ja'Ina returned to the conference room and walked up to Spiaré, who was working on healing another seriously injured crewmember, a Twi'lek named Yifu. As with Soraa, he was having a difficult time with the effort, yet he gave it all he could. Seeing him struggle under the pressure of the demands broke the young woman's heart. Ja'Ina didn't know what to do except walk up behind him and rest her hand on his shoulder.

Ja'Ina closed her eyes and once again focused on his energy through the living Force. It was simply an amazing sensation for her. She let it envelope her and weave into her very being. For a moment, she felt absolute bliss within the healing comfort. Then something unexpected happened.

As Spiaré's energy focused on his target, Ja'Ina felt her own energy pull from her being and blend with his. The combined essence of the two Force users poured forth into Yifu. The injured Twi'lek's wounds began to heal even more rapidly and completely than Soraa's did with Spiaré alone. Ja'Ina could almost see Yifu's broken bones begin to knit back together and internal lacerations close. However, something started to go wrong.

The sensations Ja'Ina experienced began to evolve profoundly. She was losing sense of the combined energies, and it was slowly being replaced with darkness, cold darkness. At first she was curious and tried to look at it more closely. This darkness was different than the indescribably horrible darkness she felt when she brutally killed Merek in anger back in Sim Katall. No, this darkness was more peaceful, like a letting-go. It felt like she was supposed to let go. Everything then turned pure black and silent.

_Ja'Ina! Stop!_

* * *

Suddenly, everything was blindingly bright. Ja'Ina screamed.

"It's okay, you're okay, Ina," a familiar voice said. It was Kurloh.

Ja'Ina blinked her eyes several times and scanned her field of view. She saw the familiar outline of Togruta montrals and head-tails hovering over her. Gradually, the details began to form within the outline and revealed Kurloh's relieved face.

Ja'Ina spoke with almost a whisper. "Ku, what happened?"

"We almost lost you," Ja'Ina heard another voice say. It was Spiaré. "That was a stupid thing you did back there." She turned and looked at him.

"Whaa?" Ja'Ina sat up and found that she was in her bunk in her quarters. Spiaré and Kurloh were sitting next to her.

"Easy, Ina," Kurloh said. "You've had a busy day."

"I don't understand…"

"You were caught up in the healing power of the Force," Spiare clarified. "Your essence within the Force combined with mine as I was healing your crewmate. The problem is you don't know what you're doing. You nearly gave all of your life energy to her. You would have died."

"I had no idea. I don't even remember what happened after I touched you and closed my eyes…"

"Thank the Force you're okay," Kurloh said as she hugged Ja'Ina.

Spiaré looked thoroughly exhausted, but gave Ja'Ina a warm smile. "Yes, you're going to be fine with a little rest. Do us all a favor and don't try that again."

Ja'Ina looked at the Jedi, puzzled.

"Using the Force to heal takes years of training. It's very easy for a Force user to just give up their essence to someone else if they haven't learned to control their power. My second master was a Jedi Healer and taught me much. But I was assigned to a new master before I could fully understand what he taught me, so I have only the basic skills and am not that proficient. That's why I had tired so quickly."

Kurloh jumped in. "I managed to get Berini off Spiaré's case about not being able to help everyone at once."

"Hmm, even my old master would've had quite a challenge in healing everyone here."

Ja'Ina lay back down in the bed, relieved that all was well, relatively speaking.

"What about Soraa?" she asked.

Kurloh put her hand on Ja'Ina's shoulder. "Everyone who had the more serious wounds, including Soraa, was moved to quarters. It's not ideal, but it was better to have them in beds than lying out on tables."

"Where is she?"

"She's with Rann in our quarters. Rann will take good care of her. I'm going to room with you for now."

Ja'Ina looked at the Jedi. "What about you?"

"It'll be tight, but I'll stay with you lovely ladies," Spiaré said with a smile.

Kurloh leaned in closer to Ja'Ina, jabbing a thumb in Spiaré's direction with a smile. "If he tries anything funny, we'll shoot him out an airlock!" The Togruta sat back up. "Seriously, Berini wants the two of us to keep an eye on him."

"How long was I out, Ku?"

"About two-and-a-half standard hours," Kurloh replied.

Spiaré added, "We're still on our way to Tatooine. By hyperspace, we should be there in about another three hours."

Kurloh tucked the covers over Ja'Ina. "You have some time, get some more rest."

"No, no more resting," Ja'Ina protested. "I can't stand the thought of doing nothing but lying around any longer."

Ja'Ina got up out of bed with her head swimming. She realized she was wearing nightclothes and she was washed of the dirt and Soraa's blood. She shot a concerned look towards Spiaré.

"Don't worry, Ina," Kurloh reassured her. "I had him step out of the room while I took care of you."

Ja'Ina donned a robe. "Let's go. I want to see how things are going."

"I'd better come with," said the Jedi. "If your orders are to keep your eyes on me, I'd better stay within your sight." He smiled with a wink.

The three stepped out into the corridor, with Kurloh and Spiaré helping Ja'Ina keep steady on her feet. There was still much activity as the crew of the _Queen Valkyrie_ worked to restore normal operations aboard the ship. Fitty was waiting outside the quarters and beeped happily at the sight of Ja'Ina up and about.

She knelt down to the astromech. "Thank you, Fitty. I'm feeling better now."

Spiaré pointed to Fitty, confused. "Ja'Ina doesn't know what that droid is really saying, does she?"

Fitty turned his photoreceptor to the Jedi and let out a loud squawk.

Kurloh laughed. "I guess she does a good enough job for him!"

In response, Fitty spun his domed head around as fast as his servos would allow.

* * *

The group made their way to the bridge. Mylyn, Krivan and Gartia were still manning their stations and Berini was overseeing the operations. The wormhole effect of hyperspace travel could be seen out the front viewport.

Ja'Ina walked unsteadily up to the Captain. "How is everything going?"

"Ahhh, Ja'Ina my dear. I'm glad you're doing better after your little stunt in the conference room."

"_Stunt?_" Ja'Ina felt offended, but at the same time wondered if she inadvertently gave Berini more clues as to her secret talents.

"Never you mind. We're still en route to Tatooine. But we've been monitoring some fluctuations in the hyperdrive system. We may have to drop back into sublight speed soon; too soon to make it straight to Tatooine unfortunately. Otherwise, the instabilities in the drive would destroy the ship in hyperspace."

"Are we near any other systems?" Spiaré asked.

Berini looked at the Jedi with eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What's he doing here?"

Kurloh replied, "Captain, you told us to keep an eye on him. Therefore he was required to accompany us." She smiled at her companions.

Krivan, the Chalactan pilot cut in. "Captain, the hyperdrive anomalies have far exceeded safety tolerances! I suggest we return to realspace!"

"Damn," Berini muttered. "We're still in open space at this point. And with some of the sublight drives out of commission, we're going to be limping along vulnerable to attack."

"Ma'am," Krivan cut in again. "Situation is becoming critical. Shall we deactivate the hyperdrive motivator?"

An alarm sounded from the console, confirming Krivan's assessment. Berini stood with her eyes closed for a moment, weighing her options.

Krivan pushed again, "Captain?"

Berini parsed her thoughts for a few more seconds then finally ordered, "Reduce velocity to sublight!" She pounded the console with her fist in frustration.

By the Captain's order, the pilots brought the ship out of hyperspace and back into realspace. The wormhole became starstreaks, and then normal stars. Feeling very disoriented by the sight, Ja'Ina had to look away.

"Mylyn, what is our current grid position?" Berini asked.

The Zeltron co-pilot entered in a query request to the navcomputer. "Grid coordinates Q-17, Galactic South-East quadrant."

"Which system is the closest to our position?"

Mylyn entered another query. "Orvax."

Berini let out a heavy sigh and sat down hard in her chair, rubbing her temples in frustration. "Of all the… How long to Orvax at our best speed?"

"About eight standard days, Captain."

Ja'Ina whispered to her companions, "What's Orvax?"

Spiaré quietly answered back, "One of the largest slave markets in the galaxy."

"This is gonna be hard for the Captain," Kurloh added, shaking her head.

"Why is that?" asked the Jedi.

"Many in the crew are former slaves, either escaped or rescued by Berini."

"Ahhhh, that explains things."

Kurloh scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Spiaré dismissively waved his hand. "Never mind…"

Kurloh snarled at the Jedi's comment while Ja'Ina merely shrugged.

Berini glared at the trio behind her, angered by their distracting chatter. "You three, off my bridge! _Now_!"

Kurloh and Ja'Ina snapped to attention and replied in unison, "Yes, Ma'am!" Spiaré was quite amused by the exchange.

Kurloh grabbed the Jedi's arm and pulled him along out the door with Ja'Ina following right behind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

* * *

"Do you have your sword handy, Ja'Ina?" Spiaré asked.

"It's back in my quarters. Why?"

"I want to take a closer look at it."

"Sure."

Puzzled, Kurloh asked the Jedi, "Why do you want to see Ina's sword?"

"Did you see what she did with it on Olu-Dra?" the Jedi asked.

"Yeah, she was able to block blaster fire with it. It was amazing!"

Ja'Ina clarified, "I didn't know my sword could do that until I found out by accident during the battle with the Stormtroopers…"

"Well then," the Togruta said. "Let's go check it out then!" She grabbed Ja'Ina by the arm and pulled her along the corridor back to their quarters, giggling like a giddy youngling.

Ja'Ina changed into a comfortable dressing gown and carried her sheathed scimitar in one hand. Kurloh didn't know what Spiaré had in mind, but she was excited just the same. She figured if a Jedi was interested in the sword, it had to be something good.

The three went to the ventral landing bay so they could have some space and privacy. Most everyone on the ship was preoccupied with repairs or tending to the wounded. The rest were running the ship on its long and slow journey to Orvax.

They made it over to the far corner behind the _Lucky Star_, where Fitty was tending to routine maintenance on the aged Y-Wing. The astromech whistled a quick salutation to the trio then went back to executing his programmed tasks.

Spiaré and the young women sat down in a circle and Ja'Ina handed him her scimitar. He slowly drew it and lay the sheath aside. He looked closely at the blade and hilt, noting the detailed etchings and beautiful designs. He held it up in front of him and stared at it, nodding and humming affirmations. Ja'Ina and Kurloh looked at each other, bemused.

Spiaré stood up. "Ja'Ina, here take it."

She stood up and took her sword from his hand.

"We're going to try something to test a theory. I think I know what you have here, but I want to be sure." Spiaré detached his lightsaber from his belt. "Don't be afraid."

Ja'Ina stepped back away from the Jedi. "Wait, wait, wait a minute! That thing'll slice right through my sword!"

Kurloh shot up to Ja'Ina's side. "Yeah, what're you trying to do here?"

Spiaré chuckled. "I told you to not be afraid. Trust me." He gave them a smile that could melt their hearts.

"It'll be okay, Ku," Ja'Ina said. "I'll go along with it."

"That's a good girl!" Spiaré said as he ignited his amber-bladed lightsaber. "When I tell you, I want you to strike the lightsaber's blade with yours."

Ja'Ina was still confused. "O-Okay…"

The Jedi held the glowing blade out horizontally in front of him. "Okay, now slash down onto it."

Ja'Ina looked at Kurloh, a little worried. Kurloh nodded. "Go for it, Ina."

The young woman took a deep breath and raised her sword. She closed her eyes and swung down onto the lightsaber's blade.

The instant her sword contacted the amber blade Ja'Ina felt resistance as if she struck a solid object rather than a shaft of pure coherent light. Blinding arcs of energy surrounded Ja'Ina's blade and the weapon threatened to fly out of her grip. Suddenly, the lightsaber's blade became distorted and then vanished. Ja'Ina jumped back, astonished. The scimitar glowed briefly but sustained no physical damage whatsoever. Kurloh excitedly yelped something in Togruti, which she rarely spoke since she left her homeworld. Spiaré slapped his thigh and laughed out loud.

"W-what just happened?! How did I do that?" Ja'Ina said as she stared dumbfounded at her sword.

"What you have there, my dear Ja'Ina is a sword that's made from cortosis ore. This is a very special weapon you have, a rare artifact indeed. It's probably very old, I'd guess around a thousand years. Where did you get it?"

"I've always had it. It was left with me at the orphanage on Galathu when I was an infant. That was twenty standard years ago."

"When did you know you had abilities within the Force?"

Ja'Ina gave Kurloh a side-by-side hug. "This troublemaker here first made me see my connection with the Force several months ago. But she also explained to me that many things I'd experienced in my life before we met were also indicators of my Force-sensitivity."

A darkness fell upon Spiaré's face, and his tone lowered considerably. "You do know that the terrible Purge of the Jedi began not long after you were born, right?"

"Yeah," Ja'Ina answered, a bit puzzled. "What are you getting at?"

The Jedi's tone lightened up again. "There is the possibility you need to consider that at least one of your parents was Force-sensitive, perhaps even a Jedi. If that's the case, they most likely saved your life by leaving you on such a remote world. But I assure you that's pure speculation."

Ja'Ina was speechless with disbelief.

"I wondered that myself!" Kurloh said excitedly. "If they were Jedi, would you have known them?"

Spiaré paused for a moment as he searched his memories. "I don't recall knowing anyone in the Order with the name 'Anour'. But that doesn't mean anything. There were many thousands of Jedi spread throughout the entire galaxy. It was possible to never cross paths with the majority of them within a lifetime."

Ja'Ina stared at her scimitar. "To think, I may be descended from Jedi…" She looked up at Spiaré with wide eyes of wonderment.

"Well, let's not discuss this any further for now," he directed. "It was wise of you both to keep your connections to the Force a secret. Let's keep it that way."

Ja'Ina blurted out, "What about your lightsaber? Did I break it?"

The Jedi laughed. "Oh no, my dear girl! It takes more than that to damage a lightsaber." He briefly reignited it to show her. "While cortosis can short out a lightsaber's blade, it's only momentary. I could have reactivated it several seconds after it went out. But in combat, those seconds can be the difference between life and death."

The young woman stared at her scimitar, amazed that it had such incredible properties.

A few moments later, a stranger walked up to the three. It was the Zeltron Deoni, the newest member of the crew. "Hi everyone, what'cha doing?"

Kurloh shot Deoni a suspecting glance. "Just spending some time with Spiaré."

"Ahhhh." The Zeltron flashed an ambiguous grin. "I thought he was our prisoner."

Spiaré chuckled. "You girls are all so entertaining! I believe given the current circumstances the good Captain commuted my sentence to serving with you lovely ladies."

Kurloh grabbed Ja'Ina's arm. "Well Deoni, please excuse us. We're going to see how Soraa's doing."

"Oh, I see…" Deoni looked at the Jedi with sparkling eyes. "You don't mind if I take him for a while, _do you_?"

Kurloh again felt suspicious of the Zeltron's intentions. Something certainly didn't feel right to her, but she chocked it up to foolish jealousy.

Spiaré reassured Kurloh and Ja'Ina. "It's okay, girls. I suppose being the only male on a ship crewed by females makes me rather popular. Even a man as _old_ as me!" He laughed again.

The Zeltron clung to Spiaré's arm as they walked away. Ja'Ina felt some jealousy well up inside, but she managed to get control over it. Kurloh gave her a knowing nod and they walked out of the hangar.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

* * *

Ja'Ina and Kurloh returned to quarters to visit Soraa. Rann was in the top bunk, reading another of her blaster holojournals. Soraa was lying in the lower bunk half-asleep. Her tattered unitard had been replaced by extensive bacta-treated bandages wrapped around her body under a soft robe.

Ja'Ina knelt down next to Soraa and gently woke her up. "Hey there, how're you feeling?"

Soraa sleepily opened her eyes and looked at her friend. She spoke slowly and softly. "Like a star freighter landed on top of me. I'm okay, I guess… given the alternatives."

"You really could use some treatment in a bacta tank, but I guess we'll have to wait until we get to Orvax," noted Kurloh.

Rann put her holojournal down and leaned down over the side of her bunk. "You really think they'll have such facilities on a slave planet?"

Ja'Ina looked up at her, confused. "Why do you say that?"

"From what I hear, slave masters don't bother with healing injured slaves," Rann said matter-of-factly. "They're just thrown into the sewer to be dianoga food. There's always another slave to take their place."

Ja'Ina's thoughts went out to Dun'ii, Mehar's Twi'lek slave. While the wound Ja'Ina inflicted on Dun'ii was not fatal, Ja'Ina now feared that Mehar may have killed her just for being 'damaged goods'.

Kurloh sensed Ja'Ina's troubled mind. "Ina, don't listen to her. She's just messing with you." Kurloh had heard similar stories as well, but didn't want to worry Ja'Ina more than she already was.

Rann made her way down the side of the bunk slowly to favor her cybernetic leg. The pain was quite high due to the stress of the intense battle with the Imperial destroyer and the aftermath of the conflict. She had taken some of the spice-based medication which had brought the pain down considerably and left her feeling like she had more than a few stiff shots of Dodbri whiskey.

"C'mon, Ku! I'm just having some fun with Ina."

"Now's not the time, Rann. You seem to forget that we're still in the middle of an emergency situation."

"Oh, there's mother Ku reprimanding the foolish younglings again!" Rann leaned over to Ja'Ina, who was enjoying the exchange. "Ina, don't let her boss you around like that!"

Ja'Ina quickly nodded. "Mmm-hmm."

"Since my relief nursing crew has arrived, I'm going to go where my help will be appreciated! Soraa, don't you go anywhere."

Soraa gave a weak smile, "Don't worry about me. I'm in the good hands of the mystic philosophers."

"More like mysterious weirdoes!" Rann laughed loudly as she limped out into the corridor.

Soraa tried to sit up a little bit, but it was too painful so she relented. "Ina, Ku, what happened after the attack? I had some strange dreams that Spiaré was holding me in the most soothing embrace I've ever felt…"

Ja'Ina looked at Kurloh, unsure of what to say. Kurloh answered for her. "Don't worry about it, Soraa. Those dreams were the result of your serious injuries. You're lucky to be alive, kiddo!"

Of course, Ja'Ina and Kurloh knew it was through the will of the Force that Soraa had been rescued and the power of the Force that she was saved, but they didn't want to tell her that.

"I heard that a couple of our crewmates had died."

"Yes," Ja'Ina said with a little sadness in her voice. "Yes, there were two deaths. We're all trying to work through it though."

"We've never had to engage something as big as a Star Destroyer before," said Kurloh. "Given that we're not a military ship, I think it's very impressive that we got away as well as we did. Most everyone wounded were not in too bad of shape. You, Yifu and Fenn were the only ones with the very serious injuries."

"Why are we going to a slavery planet?" Soraa asked with a shaky voice.

Ja'Ina put her hand on Soraa's shoulder. "We were heading to some other planet, but our engines were damaged in the fight with the Imperials. We're not going to make it there without making repairs, and unfortunately Orvax is the nearest system."

"So there's going to be more slime worms like Mehar there?"

"I'm afraid so…"

Soraa forced herself to sit up, which made her wounds hurt more. She groaned and clutched herself. "I don't wanna go there!"

"Shhh, it'll be okay Soraa." Ja'Ina gently helped her lay back down. "You'll just go straight to the med-center and right back again. Only those of us who are going to work on repairs and getting supplies will need to go out for a real length of time."

"Does that include you, Ina?"

Ja'Ina nodded in response.

Kurloh smiled. "Don't worry, Soraa. I'll keep her out of trouble."

"Yeah, Soraa. There's safety in numbers." Ja'Ina put her hand on Kurloh's shoulder. "Besides we can take care of ourselves. Right, Ku?"

The Togruta nodded. "That's right! And Berini's familiar with the place. She'll give us a thorough briefing before we disembark. Who knows, maybe we'll free someone and have a new sister. Wouldn't that be nice?"

Soraa looked down at her lap, choosing to not answer.

Ja'Ina stroked Soraa's head. "Ku, I think we've had enough talking for now. Our patient needs to rest."

Kurloh stood up. "I'll leave you in good hands then, Soraa. Ina, you stay here and rest too."

Kurloh could sense Ja'Ina's exhaustion from her experience with the Force healing mishap. The young woman did a good job of hiding it on the outside, but she could not conceal it from other users of the Force.

"Okay, bye Ku."

Ja'Ina turned back to Soraa as Kurloh left the room. "Just go back to sleep, Soraa. I'll be right here with you."

The two friends smiled at each other.

Soraa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Thank you, Ina. I'm glad you're staying with me…"

"Me too…"

Ja'Ina leaned over from her chair and laid her head on her hands next to Soraa. The two young women fell asleep, feeling perfectly at peace.

* * *

Several hours later, there was a knock on the door. Even though the knock was insistent, it took a long time Ja'Ina to rouse and respond. She looked at Soraa, who was still in a deep sleep. The knocking continued.

"Okay! Hold your thrusters!" Ja'Ina yelled, very annoyed at whoever was disturbing their rest and would not go away.

Ja'Ina got up and walked to the door. Just as she opened it, she barked, "What do you want?!"

It was Aurelia holding a tray of food, quite startled by the inhospitable greeting.

Ja'Ina felt terrible. "Aurelia! I'm so sorry! I didn't realize it was you!" Ja'Ina wasn't sure why she was not able to feel the girl's presence through the Force before opening the door. She chocked it up to her recent ordeal and tiredness. "Please come in."

Saying nothing, Aurelia walked inside. She sat the tray down on the small desk and motioned to it. There were two covered bowls and two filled glasses.

"You brought this for us?" Ja'Ina was not expecting room service.

Aurelia nodded her head and quietly said, "Mmm hmm."

"Thank you so much, honey!" Ja'Ina removed the lid from one of the bowls. Pleasant-smelling steam wafted up into her face. "This is more of your kruchette stew, isn't it?"

In an almost inaudible voice, Aurelia replied, "Yes, it is."

"Oh, thank you! I love your stew."

Ja'Ina took the bowl and sat on the edge of the bunk. Aurelia sat on the chair. Ja'Ina took a spoonful and ate it. It was just as delicious as before. She smiled at the young girl and ate a couple more spoonfuls.

"I guess it's been a while since I last ate," Ja'Ina said. "I didn't realize how hungry I was."

Aurelia quietly watched her eat. If Ja'Ina hadn't known what the girl had been through, or the ability to sense her demeanor, she would have felt quite unnerved. Ja'Ina took a drink of sweet Urbur juice.

"Berini wanted me to bring this to you," Aurelia softly said.

"She did? Well make sure to thank her for us."

The girl nodded affirmative. Ja'Ina continued eating, grateful for the good food.

Slowly, Aurelia asked, "Are you a Jedi?"

Ja'Ina choked on her food in response.

Aurelia backed away. "I'm sorry." She hung her head low.

"No, no, my dear. It's okay. Really…" Ja'Ina wiped the food from her face.

Aurelia slowly looked up at Ja'Ina. Her eyes were watering as if she were about to cry. Ja'Ina reached over to hug the teen, who quickly stood up and moved away towards the door.

"Please, don't go," Ja'Ina implored her. "I'm sorry if I frightened you."

"I-I'm sorry I asked the question…"

The young woman shook her head. "It's okay that you asked. It just surprised me, that's all." Ja'Ina reached out through the Force to comfort the teen. "Please, sit back down. You don't have to go."

Aurelia stared at Ja'Ina, still fighting back tears. Ja'Ina focused her positive energy through the Force to the troubled girl. The woman smiled and nodded slowly as Aurelia's expression changed to one of relief and peace.

"There we go," Ja'Ina said calmly. "No need to fret. It was an innocent question. Come, sit back down."

Aurelia did just that. "Thank you, Ja'Ina. You're very nice."

"Please, call me Ina. That's what my friends call me."

Aurelia smiled, the first time Ja'Ina ever saw her smile. "Okay, Ina."

Ja'Ina took a deep breath as she sat back down. "Now then, what made you ask such a question?"

The girl hesitated to answer.

"It's okay, go ahead."

"I saw what you were doing with Mister Spiaré…doing to Yifu."

"What did it look like I was doing?"

"It looked like…like you were doing some kind of Jedi healing with him. Until you fainted, that is."

Ja'Ina had to come up with something, fast. "Hmmm, I can see why you'd think that. But I assure you, I was just watching what Spiaré was doing up close. I guess I just couldn't handle the excitement when I saw he was healing Yifu right before my eyes." Ja'Ina hoped that Aurelia would believe her story.

"Oh… I see. I understand."

Ja'Ina was relieved, but kept it inside. Still, Aurelia stared at her like she was looking right through her. Ja'Ina was worried that somehow this mysterious girl could see what she was trying to hide.

"Berini told me that the Empire killed all the Jedi…"

"The Empire tried to, but apparently there's still a few of them around in the galaxy. As you can see, Spiaré is living proof."

Aurelia quickly stood up. "I'd better go and let you finish your meal. Please tell Soraa that I hope she feels better soon."

"Thank you, I will. Please feel free to come by and talk whenever you like."

Aurelia nodded and left the room. Ja'Ina hoped that she would get the opportunity to talk with Aurelia again soon. She wanted to get to know the girl more. There was some kind of connection Ja'Ina felt with her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She wasn't sure if it was through the Force, or something else.

Ja'Ina finished her stew and sat back up against the wall on the foot of Soraa's bunk, contemplating all that had just transpired with her conversation with Aurelia.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

* * *

On the fourth day of the slow trek to Orvax, Ja'Ina was in the middle of her tutelage on some of the _Queen Valkyrie's_ systems. She chose to focus on Communications as she thought it would be a good fit for her. Given the technical aspects of the position it was a bit of a stretch, but Ja'Ina felt she needed to expand her horizons. She didn't want to work in Engineering, Weapons or the like. She also didn't want to relegate herself to crew services like working in the galley. At least as a communications officer she could maintain a kind of direct connection with those on and off the ship, which is what she liked best about the position.

The usual communications officer, the Theelin Gartia, had a couple of assistants but she never felt very comfortable leaving the com station with either of them, even if it was not a serious situation. She had a feeling that Ja'Ina would be different, that the young woman would be able to handle it well. Gartia had been very overworked the last several days and really needed a respite from her post. Ja'Ina proved to be a quick study and she enjoyed the work.

Ja'Ina had some fun on the job with her Force-affinity. She would sense where the individual she needed to contact was, and hailed them at their specific location rather than put out a ship-wide page. This surprised her crewmates more than a couple of times. She did it only occasionally as it would most assuredly reveal her special talents.

The voyage had been relatively quiet thus far, but things were still stressful aboard ship. In the backs of everyone's minds was the possibility of being ambushed by an unfriendly vessel. People kept busy as much as they could, but the repairs would have to be completed planet-side.

Some of the crew practiced their combat skills to kill time while others rested or pursued hobbies. Either way, tension was slowly building up as the days of uncertainty dragged on. Berini hoped that the Imperials were not able to track their course before the jump to hyperspace. It was a good sign that they had yet to encounter any more Imperial vessels.

Soraa and the other badly-wounded crewmembers continued their convalescence, but it was slow-going since supplies were inadequate for their injuries. Spiaré worked hard to aid their healing, and his efforts kept their conditions stable. Berini appreciated his help, but did not thank him. She knew full well that having a Jedi on her ship was very dangerous, that if the Empire caught wind of his presence on board they would hunt down the _Queen Valkyrie_ and destroy the ship and everyone on board just to make sure Spiaré was dead.

Berini was so concerned for the safety of her ship and crew that she called another staff meeting in the common room.

"Alright ladies, after some thought, I have come up with a change of plans. After we're done on Orvax IV, we're not going to Tatooine."

The Captain paused for a couple of moments to allow the confused grumblings to subside before continuing.

"With how hot things are with the Empire, I want to get as far away from the Galactic Core as possible. We're going to take the ship even farther out – to the Corporate Sector."

One of the crew blurted out, "Why there, Captain?"

"The Imperial presence in and around the CorpSec is practically non-existent as they have very little reason to interact directly with each other." Berini sighed. "We'll have to deal with the Corporate Sector Authority, which will be a big pain in the star drive, but more palatable than the Empire. I spent quite some time there years back, so I know how the CSA operates."

Chatter among the crew picked up again, so Berini pounded on the table to regain their attention.

"Quiet! You're all going to have to trust me on this one. When have I let you down?"

The Captain scanned the room, locking eyes with everyone present. She was answered with silence.

"Very well then." Berini had said all that she wanted to say, so she abruptly ended the meeting and walked out before anyone could say anything in return.

* * *

When her shift ended, Ja'Ina walked back to the quarters she shared with Kurloh and the Jedi Spiaré. Though she enjoyed her new duties, she was thoroughly exhausted. When she returned to the quarters, she found that her room mates were not there, so she just lay down on her bunk, not bothering to change out of her regular scanty attire.

Ja'Ina had just closed her eyes when the door opened. It was Spiaré. Ja'Ina quickly sat up. The Jedi's appearance always intrigued her. On the one hand, he was clearly old enough to be her father, but he did have a rugged handsomeness about him. And she felt some kind of attraction to that handsomeness.

"Hey there, kiddo," Spiaré said. His voice betrayed his tiredness.

"Hi Spiaré. You just finished another healing session?"

"Yeah. I feel less like a Jedi and more like a medi-droid around here. But if it keeps Berini from launching me out an airlock, I'm fine with it." He chuckled. "Honestly, I'm more than happy to help. And it's actually good to get a break from combat for a while." He smiled at Ja'Ina. She sensed some pain behind his smile.

Ja'Ina looked at him for a moment. She stretched her feelings out through the Force to see if she could sense what was bothering him. In his exhaustion, his mental guard was down. She could feel some darkness within him, but couldn't tell what it was. Spiaré then realized what she was doing and blocked her out.

"Okay, my dear. That's enough of that!"

Startled, Ja'Ina sheepishly replied, "I'm sorry…"

"That's okay. You definitely are an inquisitive one, aren't you? You could have just asked."

"I'm sorry, I should have known better… But I couldn't help it!"

"I'm the first Jedi you've ever met and want to know more about me, huh?"

Ja'Ina nodded.

"Well, maybe it's time I told you a little more about me. I like you; I like your strong spirit. But your naiveté can be dangerous for you. If you poke around like that to the wrong person, you could get yourself in serious trouble."

Ja'Ina nervously shifted herself on the bunk.

"Anyway, I know what you felt there. And I appreciate your concern… You see, I fought in the Clone Wars many years back. But back then, I was still a Padawan learner."

"An apprentice?"

"Yes. My third and final master was a general in command of a battalion of clone troops. Part of my training was to gain some combat experience. By the Force, what an experience _that_ was."

Ja'Ina hung onto his every word. She couldn't believe he was sharing this with her.

"The fighting was intense. My master and I traveled to several different planets to capture them for the Republic. She taught me much to help me hone my lightsaber skills as well as learn something about being a leader. And then the end of the war…" His voice trailed off.

A deep darkness fell upon Spiaré's face. It was so intense that he could not hide the pain, and Ja'Ina felt nearly overwhelmed by the sensation. He sensed this and took her hand before he continued.

"I don't even remember what planet we were on at that time. I was standing by her side as she led our clone squad. We had just cleared out a patch of resistance and were planning our next move. Without warning, our troops surrounded us with their weapons raised."

Ja'Ina whispered, "The Purge…"

"Yes, the Purge." Spiaré took a deep, slow breath. "Ku may have told you what she knew about the Purge, but unless you were actually there, you really know nothing about it. That's how the Empire wants it."

"Please, go on," the young woman implored.

Spiaré again drew a deep breath. "Our troops surrounded us, ready to gun us down. I was prepared to face the impossible fight by my master's side. Before I knew it, she had Force-pushed a bunch of the clones away which cleared a path out of the circle. I thought that meant that the both of us would escape through that opening, but instead, she Force-pushed me out and away from the clones. I scrambled to my feet as fast as I could and heard her call out to me to run away. I hesitated as I heard her ignite her saber and engage the clones. It didn't last long. The sound of the clones' onslaught drowned out all else, then ceased after what seemed an eternity."

Ja'Ina trembled and her eyes filled with tears. She could see the situation play out in her mind as if she were really there.

"The troopers stepped back and I could just make out my master's body on the ground. I heard her voice in my head telling me again to run. Just as the clones turned to face me, I ran. It was only through the power of the Force that I was able to escape from them. I'm sure there are similar stories, but clearly not many of us survived. We were taken by complete surprise."

Ja'Ina wiped the tears from her eyes. "Why? Why did they turn on the Jedi?"

"Apparently, they received the order from the Chancellor himself. As soon as the deed was done, he declared himself Emperor and now here we are." He clapped his hands as if to snap the both of them back to the present.

"So you've been in hiding the whole time since?"

"For the most part, yes. At first, I wanted nothing to do with anything. But years later I couldn't stand it anymore. The Empire had destroyed justice and democracy in the galaxy and things were only getting worse. I could no longer just watch; I had to do something about it. I wanted to honor my master and all the Jedi who had lost their lives to this treachery."

Ja'Ina felt the Jedi struggle with the anger he felt inside. She was surprised he had such difficulties, but admired his courage and strength in pushing through them.

"So I decided to do what I could against the Empire, but also keep a low profile. Even the Rebel agents I've worked with don't know my true identity. You and your crewmates are the first people to know that I'm a Jedi and remain alive afterward." He smiled again and detached his lightsaber from his belt and held it up in front of him. "For everyone else I've come across, my identification here was the last thing they ever saw." He returned his weapon to his belt.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

* * *

Alone in the quarters she shared with Rann, Soraa was sitting up in bed, spending her convalescence reading one of Rann's technical holojournals. Soraa was the only other person on board with the same level of interest and knowledge of blasters, so Rann was more than happy to share her literature with the young woman.

Truthfully, Soraa was getting rustier with the technical side of the weapons ever since she stopped working at Goan's shop. She'd been too busy actually using them to work on them outside of regular maintenance and didn't have any opportunities to refurbish or rebuild any weapons as she did back home. Soraa enjoyed that as much as she did learning how to shoot. Goan told her many times how proud he was of her and how happy he was to call her his daughter, even though she wasn't his natural daughter.

Soraa loved Goan right back as her father. She was eternally grateful for his tutelage and care. She felt that it would have been much more difficult for her outside of the orphanage without him. Not to diminish her relationship with Ja'Ina, but Soraa had a much harder time with not having parents while growing up. She felt it was ironic since she actually had her real parents the first four years of her life, whereas Ja'Ina never knew hers. But then again, maybe it was because Soraa knew what she was missing that she had such a hard time feeling secure.

In the few days that passed since nearly being killed in the engagement with the Imperial Star Destroyer, Soraa's pain was relentless. She really couldn't do much more than spend her time in bed, more than half of it asleep.

Occasionally, when the pain sharply spiked up, Rann would secretly share some of her spice-derived pain medicine with Soraa. It helped tremendously, but nothing could compare to the profound relief that Spiaré's Jedi healing skills gave her. Still, even those effects were not permanent and they only served to keep her stable, insufficient to improve her condition. Soraa did not like the sound of Orvax, but still hoped they had decent medical facilities there. She was dying to get back in shape to shoot again.

In frustration and pain, Soraa put the holojournal down and lay back down. She let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. Chewing her lip with the pain, Soraa wondered how Ja'Ina was doing, grateful that at least she wasn't hurt in the battle.

* * *

"Ja'Ina, I feel some darkness in you," Spiaré said to the young woman. "Would you please share it with me?"

Ja'Ina was genuinely puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Have you ever acted out in anger?"

She directed her thoughts back through her life. Darkness… Darkness… Then it hit her and her blood ran cold.

Spiaré's eyes narrowed. "Yes, that's it. Please tell me about it."

"I think I know of the darkness you are talking about. I would rather die a thousand deaths than feel that darkness again."

"What happened?"

"I killed someone in a rage." Ja'Ina's face fell dark. She bowed her head and spoke softly. "I felt the Force build up in me as I did it. The power was indescribable, but at the same time the darkness felt deeper than death. He didn't really even deserve death, but I couldn't take it anymore."

"No one is truly qualified to decide who does and does not deserve to die. I can sense the pain this person inflicted on you. But that pain was infinitely overshadowed by the pain of your own deed, wasn't it?"

"Yes…"

"That was the dark side of the Force."

Ja'Ina did not like the sound of it. Suddenly she felt more uneasy with her abilities in the Force, worried that she wouldn't be able to control herself.

"It permanently stains your being like a bruise that will never fully heal. You must be wary of acting on your passions. If you become consumed by your 'stains', you will fall to the dark side."

"Ku mentioned to me that we had to be careful and uphold the light side."

"She is correct. It is good that the two of you are aware of that. With the morally rough ground your way of life treads, you could easily use your abilities towards foul ends…if you give in to the temptation."

"I assure you, Spiaré, I haven't."

"I know. But I'm just warning you that the potential is there. You must keep that in mind, always."

Ja'Ina thoughts went back to the rage she felt when she attacked the slaver Mehar and severed his hand, and when she charged for Berini after the pirates had frozen Soraa in carbonite, and attacked Lernel on Dymia. Until now, Ja'Ina didn't realize how many times she had brought herself towards the dark side, and that realization frightened her.

"Yes, you've had other close calls. But your insight has served you well, and you were better able to control your anger after your first experience."

"Thank you, Master." Ja'Ina shot her hand to her mouth, realizing what had just slipped out.

Spiaré raised a reprimanding finger at her. "I'm not your master. Remember that! I am _not_ here to take on any Padawans!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. It's just that… It sounds like I'm going to face constant challenges from the dark side of the Force. How can I stand up to it without guidance?"

"I assure you, my dear, that all Force-adepts face this same reality; even those with masters. Your best defense comes from within, not without. Remember that."

"Why are you sharing all of this with me? Why isn't Ku here too?"

Spiaré took Ja'Ina's hand and gave it a light squeeze. "She has a lot of knowledge about the Jedi and the Force, which is impressive given lack of openly-available data on the subject. But you, Ja'Ina, have actually lived within the Force much more than Kurloh has. You just didn't know it until you met her. Yes, the Force is with her, but she hasn't used it like you have. She's caught up more in the academic aspect and not as much on the practical application of the Force. She actually would have made an excellent Jedi Archivist back in the day." He gave a bittersweet smile with the memories of the times before the Empire.

Deep inside, Ja'Ina always knew she had a deeper connection with the Force than Kurloh had. She just never admitted it. Ja'Ina felt that she might make Kurloh feel inferior, even though she didn't think of her as such, just different.

Spiaré sensed the young woman's unspoken thoughts. "Ja'Ina, if she knew anything about the nature of the Jedi, she would understand that giving in to perceived notions of inferiority would be a folly of vanity. You too must not be concerned with such things. If you are living truly as who you are then you will be seen as who you truly are. Misconceptions are signs of short-sightedness. The Force goes far beyond surface perceptions. Those in tune with the Force are capable of seeing the truth behind any situation. Remember that."

With that, Spiaré stood up and turned to leave. Ja'Ina opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself. Without another word, Spiaré opened the door and stepped into the corridor.

Ja'Ina lay back on the bunk, thinking to herself, _he may not be a Jedi master, but he sure sounds like one_.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

* * *

Six days after the battle with the Imperials at Olu-Dra, the morale on board the _Queen Valkyrie_ had further fallen. The stress level rose steadily every day with the uncertainty of the situation. There had been a number of altercations between crewmates and some injuries resulted. If it weren't for the emergency situation, Berini would have had all of those involved in the fights put into carbon freeze. But every able body was needed at this critical time and she had to resort to more conventional methods of discipline that didn't involve taking anyone out of duty.

Ja'Ina had to put forth extra effort to counter all of the negative energy in order to keep from being pulled down with it. She even tried to reach out through the Force to her crewmates to help them to be more at peace, though she wasn't sure how effective her attempts were.

Soraa was bored out of her mind so she tried short excursions out of her quarters with the help of Fitty. The astromech was happy to have her lean onto his domed head as they slowly made their way through the corridors. The others weren't happy with Soraa getting out of bed, however. It was almost a full time job for Ja'Ina, Rann and Kurloh to keep Soraa from 'escaping'. She was only minimally getting better, and the only thing keeping her condition from worsening was the regular Force healing treatments from Spiaré. She and the others with the worst injuries really needed to spend some time in a bacta tank.

Still, the ship crawled along without harassment. Berini figured they were far enough away from any of the major space routes to encounter any other ships, let alone unfriendlies.

"Ja'Ina," Berini snapped, "status report." The Captain stood right behind the crew stations on the bridge.

Seated at the Comm Officer's station, Ja'Ina turned and answered, "Captain, there is no sign of any other vessels and we're still out of range of the Orvax system's local communications sphere. It's totally quiet out here."

Berini let out a sigh of relief. "Good, good. Let's keep on course and hope luck continues to stay with us."

Ja'Ina was convinced that they were meant to make it to Orvax safely, not that it was luck. They had been through enough and it was time to recover from their trials. Still, Ja'Ina was concerned with the fact that they were headed straight for a world of slavery. Over the past standard year, she and Soraa had steadily gotten closer to the horrible reality of slavery. And this time they were going to land in the thick of it.

Ja'Ina was not sure what to expect there. Whenever she was not totally engaged in some other task, her mind would wander around the subject. Strangely, she felt more curiosity than fear. She also felt some anger inside, especially when her thoughts pointed towards the slaver Mehar, but she endeavored to diffuse that anger. The last thing she wanted was to give in to such feelings over that ball of slime. He was not worth it.

Ja'Ina wondered if she would feel more anger when she'd catch sight of other slavers on the planet. She felt that it may be a good exercise for her, given what Spiaré had told her about confronting and countering the dark side of the Force.

* * *

In her quarters, Soraa continued to convalesce with Spiaré's continued treatments. She now knew that it was the Jedi's skills that saved her life. But she also noticed that he wasn't able to heal her very quickly.

Spiaré lifted his hands from her exposed wounds and replaced her dressing. "There you go. How does it feel?"

"Okay, I suppose. Thanks."

"You're very welcome. I'm sorry I'm unable to do more for you than this. But I also need your help by staying in bed. I heard about you trying to get out an about. That just makes things worse."

Soraa's face reddened. "I'm sorry. I promise I'll stay put."

The Jedi silently nodded in approval.

"I'm gonna need treatment at a medical facility, aren't I?"

Spiaré sighed and gave a troubled smile. "I'm afraid so. Your rehabilitation will take much too long without it. Besides, we can't guarantee you'll always have a Jedi handy to help you."

"On Orvax…"

He sensed her fear. "Yes, but don't worry. In spite of the situation there, they do have good facilities. You really don't have much to worry about. In spite of what you've seen, generally humans are rarely taken into slavery. Still, we'll make sure that you and the other wounded are safe and secure while you're there. You have my word on it as a Jedi."

"What about the Empire?"

"There shouldn't be any Imperial presence there. They generally have no objections to the business conducted on Orvax, so there's little reason for the Empire to waste their resources." He tucked Soraa in her covers with a fatherly touch that reminded her of Goan. The painful memory of his arrest by the Empire stung through her mind.

Spiaré sensed Soraa's distress and reached out through the Force to comfort her. "Now get some rest. We'll be there soon and we'll get you well again."

"But-"

Spiaré gently touched her forehead. "Shhhhh…"

Soraa relaxed and closed her eyes. Spiaré sat for a moment and watched as she drifted to sleep. He himself was exhausted from the last few days and knew he wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer either. He silently stood up and left the room.

* * *

Later in the day, Berini called a meeting in the conference room with almost every able-bodied person aboard. With their journey to Orvax nearing the end and everyone's nerves thoroughly frayed, she had to do something to keep her crew together.

The Captain herself struggled with anxiety over the situation. She knew full well what she was taking her crew, her family, into. Ironically, Haani, the Zeltron engineer who died in the engine room during the battle, was emancipated from a slave fair on Orvax IV only a couple of years before.

Berini stood out amongst the majority of the galaxy's morally- and legally-ambiguous in being an outspoken critic of slavery. As such, she was on the bad side of many slavers and guilds. She knew it would be foolish and futile to try to free large numbers of slaves, but when an opportunity would arise to rescue one or two she usually took it. All forms of slavery disgusted her, but she especially took offense to the idea of taking females to be 'entertainment'. She would rather die protecting her crew rather than let any one of them fall to that fate.

Berini knocked her knuckles hard on the table to get everyone's attention. "Alright ladies, listen up!" She paused for the cacophony to die down. "As you all should know, we're nearing the Orvax system now and need to get ourselves together here. I must remind you all that we're going to be there just to effect repairs, take on supplies and seek medical treatment for our wounded. Nothing else! I want you to keep as low a profile as possible – don't cause _any_ trouble."

Several of the former slaves protested in unison. They wanted to free more slaves, but Berini simply pushed her open palm out toward them in response.

"Enough! Look, you all know I take every opportunity to rescue slaves, but now is not the time. If anyone stupidly tries a rescue and lands herself in trouble, don't expect any help!"

Berini added that not as a threat, but as the truth. They did not have the resources for such an operation at this time. The Captain scanned the group with narrowed eyes. She knew that many of her crew had thoughts of rescuing slaves and she hoped that the harsh reality of their situation convinced them to drop it. She held the silence for a few more moments before continuing.

"So if there is nothing else," Berini sternly scanned the room as if to dissuade anyone from speaking up, "then let's get back to it. We'll convene tomorrow to decide how we'll break out the tasks. Dismissed."

The crew filed out of the room. Kurloh, Rann and Ja'Ina looked at each other with worried faces. With the reality of landing on a planet of slavery looming closer, they began to get nervous. Berini's warnings weighed heavy in their minds as they left the conference room.

Ja'Ina spoke first as they walked back to quarters. "Hey, we can't let this wear our confidence down, right? I mean, we can take care of ourselves just fine!"

"Maybe against a single slaver," Rann replied. "But against an entire planet?"

Kurloh replied, "Well Rann, you'll just have to keep your blaster out at all times, eh?"

Rann extended her hand out in the shape of a gun and made a shooting gesture. "You got that right, Ku!"

"Our wits will be our best weapon," Ja'Ina said.

Rann reached over and energetically rubbed the top of Ja'Ina's head, messing her raven hair. "I'll try to remember that, o weird and wise one!"

Kurloh, Ja'Ina and Rann made it to the quarters where Soraa was staying and entered. The trio was surprised by what they saw. Soraa was actually up out of bed shuffling around the small room without assistance. She moved slowly, but was surprisingly steady.

Ja'Ina quickly stepped over to her wounded friend, grabbing her by the arm. "Hey! You shouldn't be up. Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Making myself better," Soraa responded. She still had a weakness in her voice, but was clearly stronger than a couple of days ago.

Rann added, "Yeah, well if you're not careful, you could make yourself worse!"

"I'll be damned if I have to go to a med center on a slave planet! I refuse to let myself be vulnerable in that terrible place!" Soraa followed that with a heavy breath, clearly winded from her exclamation. She leaned more on Ja'Ina as she led her back to bed.

Rann shook her head, "And you think you're not going to be vulnerable walking around down there like this?"

Rann was right. Soraa frowned in disappointment and then grimaced from the pain as Ja'Ina helped her back into her bunk.

Kurloh spoke to Soraa with mock sternness. "Don't make me bring the Captain in here to straighten you up!" She followed up with a wink.

Soraa raised an annoyed eyebrow at the Togruta; the others quietly chuckled.

Rann walked over to the bunk. "Alright you two, it's my turn to take watch. Get outta here."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

Aurelia's earlier visit puzzled Ja'Ina. The girl claimed that Berini had her bring Soraa and Ja'Ina some food, but Ja'Ina wasn't so sure. Sure, the Captain takes care of her crew as her family, though with some rather unorthodox and sometimes harsh methods. But Ja'Ina sensed something in Aurelia that didn't seem to match up with her claim. Sure, it wasn't really that big of a deal, but still, Ja'Ina wanted to see if she could learn more about the girl. So she went to visit Berini, who was in her quarters on the topmost deck of the _Queen Valkyrie_.

Ja'Ina rang the annunciator on the entrance to the Captain's quarters. From inside she could hear Berini. "Enter…"

Ja'Ina opened the door and stepped in. She saw Berini and Myrrna sitting at the table reviewing some kind of data on a holoviewer. Their backs were to the door. Seemingly motionless stars filled the views out the ports on either side of the Captain's lounge as they traveled at sublight speed.

Berini turned around and faced her visitor. "Ahhh, Ja'Ina. Come in, come in." The Captain turned back to her Twi'lek First Officer. "Myrrna, we'll pick this up again later."

Myrrna slightly bowed her head. "Yes, Captain." She stood up and walked towards the door, right past Ja'Ina without saying a word or even looking at her.

Ja'Ina was always amazed at how physically strong Myrrna was. The skimpy outfit she still wore from her days in slavery left little to the imagination, making it easy to see the musculature she had built up over time underneath her purple-hued skin. It was no surprise that the Twi'lek was able to take down Ja'Ina with one surprise backhand. If she were more aware of Myrrna that day, she would have been able to dodge that first hit, but Ja'Ina felt that in a straight up brawl she would not be able to compete with the physical strength of the Twi'lek.

Berini addressed Ja'Ina, breaking her out of her thoughts of the past. "Come, sit down my dear."

"Thank you, Captain."

"In here, it's just Berini, okay?"

Ja'Ina nodded and sat in the seat next to Berini.

"So, how have your new comm duties been going? Gartia's telling me good things about you."

"I've been enjoying my new responsibilities aboard ship."

"I'm glad to hear that. I want my girls to be happy with their roles on my ship." Berini leaned back in her chair. "So, to what do I owe this visit?"

Ja'Ina hesitated. "It's Aurelia."

The Captain sat up, concerned. "Oh really? Is everything okay?"

"Yes, yes everything's just fine. She's a very good kid."

Ja'Ina was only a few years older than Aurelia, but she still found herself referring to the teen as 'kid'. They were both kids from Berini's matronly point of view.

"Well, what happened then?"

"She visited Soraa and me the other day. She brought us some food that she made and said that you asked her to bring it to us."

Berini slowly nodded her head. "I see. That's interesting." She shifted herself back up in the chair, still towering somewhat over Ja'Ina. "I never asked her to bring you anything. She must have done it on her own."

"But why?"

"Aurelia talks about you, believe it or not. She likes you and Soraa very much. Ever since you came on board, she was very curious about you. She won't tell me why, but that doesn't really matter. I see Aurelia as someone who is a good judge of character; she just has it in her."

That statement made Ja'Ina nervous. She thought to herself, _does Aurelia know that I am Force-sensitive?_

"Just be happy that she likes you. That tells me that I have nothing to worry about you and Soraa. I know you're women of your word."

Ja'Ina smiled at Berini's reassurance then changed the subject. "You're worried about going to Orvax, aren't you?"

"You can tell?"

Ja'Ina nervously chuckled. "One doesn't have to have the Force to see it." Her statement was true, but she would not be able to deny that she strongly felt the Captain's concern through the Force.

Berini raised an eyebrow with the young woman's comment. "I see."

"You've said yourself you made many enemies in the criminal world with your actions against slavery. Your presence there could put you in harm's way. However, you're worried more about your crew than yourself."

The Captain was impressed with Ja'Ina's insight. "You've pretty much hit the nerf on the head. Any of my girls could be attacked just for their association with me."

"But they can take care of themselves just fine, right?"

"Most can. But those who cannot will stay aboard on my orders."

"Like Aurelia?"

"Especially Aurelia." Berini's strong countenance faltered. "She wouldn't stand a chance out there…"

Ja'Ina reached out to touch Berini's arm to comfort her. The Captain shook herself out of it and pulled her arm back before the young woman could touch it. Ja'Ina quickly withdrew her hand, worried she overstepped her bounds.

"Don't worry, Berini. I assure you I will do my part to make sure that she stays aboard and safe. She doesn't know where we're going, does she?"

Berini snapped back. "No! And it will stay that way! You understand?"

Startled by the Captain's intensity, Ja'Ina replied, "Yes Ma'am!"

Realizing what she had done, Berini backed off. "Good. I'm glad we're on the same page."

"What about you? You're going out too, right?"

"Yes, but I'll conceal my identity just in case. I'll pass myself as some anonymous spacer so I can direct our activities in person without arousing unwanted attention. I want to leave as quickly as we can."

Ja'Ina was surprised by Berini's current demeanor. For the first time, the young woman saw a crack in the Captain's confidence. The haughty 'Pirate Queen Berini' was replaced with a woman who was concerned, if not afraid, for the welfare of her crew. The strongest of these sensations surrounded Berini's thoughts of Aurelia, the teen whom she rescued from a nasty Hutt crime boss. Ja'Ina could feel the struggle inside the Captain as she regained her normal composure.

Berini quickly stood up and cleared her throat. "We're not going to hang around that infernal hole any longer than we have to! Now if you don't mind, I have other matters to attend to."

Ja'Ina stood up, nodded her head and left Berini's quarters. She knew the 'matters' the Captain had to attend to were really to rest up before the ship arrived at Orvax.

* * *

The day had come when the _Queen Valkyrie_ arrived in the Orvax system. The fourth planet was their destination, the location of some of the largest slave fairs in the galaxy. Captain Berini called for another crew meeting. Everyone on board was in attendance with the ship left to autopilot. Even Spiaré was present, though he simply stood silently against the back wall, not expecting to contribute to the discussion.

This time, everyone was quiet. The tension from the threat of attack en-route to the system was replaced by tension from the uncertainty of landing on the slave world. More than half the crewwomen were former slaves, which stirred strong but mixed emotions. Berini knew that she had a difficult task in keeping her crew focused on the mission at hand and avoid any unnecessary complications.

Berini sat in her chair at the head of the U-shaped table. "Alright ladies, this is it. We have finally made it safely to the Orvax system. We're now en route to Orvax IV, and should be there in a couple of hours." She paused to let her words sink in.

"We have a few things we need to accomplish here. First, we need to repair the ship. Next, we'll take care of our seriously wounded. Orvax IV does not have formal medical facilities, but I know someone who has a bacta tank for hire in the capital. Yifu, Fenn and Soraa need to be transported there for bacta immersion treatment. It will take some extra time since it's the only tank on the whole forsaken planet." She looked up at Spiaré. "Master Jedi, what is the status of your patients?"

Spiaré was annoyed with being referred to like a doctor, but he let it go. He cleared his throat. "Well, Yifu and Fenn sustained the worst injuries. I've been able to keep them stable at best. Soraa's condition is improving, but very slowly."

The Captain crossed her arms. "Then we have to set the priority with Soraa last."

The decision to make Soraa wait for the others stung at Ja'Ina's heart, but she knew that it was the best choice given the circumstances.

The Captain continued. "Care for our ship and crewmates will require every credit we have. This leads to our third task – acquiring money and supplies. You're pretty much free to do this in any way you see fit, short of killing anyone. Is that understood?"

None of the women said anything; most silently nodded their heads 'affirmative.' Deoni wore a big smile on her pretty face. This sort of thing was the Zeltron's specialty, and she looked forward to working her charms again.

"Good! Whatever you do, try to keep a low profile. It's been a while since we've engaged in any real piracy. We need to be as civilized about it as possible." Berini gave a thin smile to try to lighten up the atmosphere.

Berini pushed herself up from the table and scanned around the room, locking eyes with each of her crew one by one. "Remember, _no one_ is to attempt to rescue any slaves whatsoever! Anyone who gets caught during such an attempt will have to reap the consequences of her actions! I would dearly miss any one of you, but at the same time, I wouldn't want such an incompetent, disobedient fool in my crew! Understood?"

Everyone responded in a jumbled chorus of responses such as 'yes Ma'am' or 'yes Captain' or 'yes My Queen'. Spiaré watched the motley crew in amusement, but he also hoped that they would follow her order.

* * *

The meeting continued on with the formation of teams for the different tasks. Myrrna would stay on board in command. It was for the best anyway as her urge to attack slavers would most likely be too great to suppress if she left the ship. Berini would supervise the care of the wounded in the medical facility with two of her crew. Three teams would work on 'obtaining' money and supplies. Ja'Ina, Kurloh and Deoni comprised the first team, Rann, Marka and Juun were the second team, and yet another team of three. Another two teams of three would work on getting everything needed to repair the ship. The rest would remain on the ship, including those working on the repairs. Fitty, the orange-trimmed astromech, would offer his valuable functionality to aid in the repairs.

Young Aurelia was also to stay on the ship as she was too fragile to be out and about in a slave market, even if she was well-escorted. Berini gave her crew strict orders to ensure that the girl remained on board. The Captain almost chose to lock her in her suite in the top deck, but decided that she'd be fine to roam the ship.

Berini also chose to not tell Aurelia what kind of planet they were going to; just that it was a bad place that she didn't need to leave the ship for.

The Jedi Knight Spiaré chose to remain on the _Queen Valkyrie_ to avoid the potential of revealing his true identity. With Jedi being rare and considered dangerous, bounties were high and unsavory beings eager for such lucrative jobs were not in short supply on Orvax IV. Spiaré offered to help in any way he could on board.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

The _Queen Valkyrie_ made planetfall without incident. There was no official traffic control on Orvax IV, it was up to the spacers to communicate with each other to avoid collisions and manage landing sites. There was no need to present proper official documentation or full identification. The local society was pretty much an anarchy. However, a few self-appointed administrators and the security forces that were comprised of members of the T'surr species kept a sense of order on the planet; at least enough order to allow the slave trade to thrive in a relatively civil manner.

The pirates who would leave the ship were to be armed, for obvious reasons. Everyone was free to dress how they wanted. Most stuck to their usual 'pirate' garb, even if it was skimpier attire that could potentially attract some attention.

On the other hand, Berini made sure to dress as inconspicuous as possible. She donned a nondescript utility jumpsuit with many pockets, heavy work boots and tucked the short length of her copper hair inside a utilitarian work cap. She also wore goggles and completed the outfit with a utility belt and a regular blaster pistol. She did not carry her own signature custom weapon as it could potentially identify her to her enemies.

* * *

Ja'Ina was getting ready in her quarters to leave the ship. Soraa was there too, still recuperating from her injuries.

"Ina, must you go? You could just stay here and work on the ship, can't you?"

Ja'Ina finished lacing up her black bantha suede boots and stood up. She adjusted her matching breechcloth and looked herself over in the mirror. "That's ridiculous! You know I don't have any technical skills. I'd be useless here."

"Still, I don't want you to go."

Ja'Ina turned and sat down on the bunk with Soraa and took her hand. "Don't worry. I can take care of myself. Besides, I'll have Ku and Deoni with me."

Soraa looked away. "Yeah, everything will be just fine with _Ku_ there…"

It didn't take the Force for Ja'Ina to tell that Soraa was upset. Ja'Ina knew the time would come to address the topic of her relationship with Kurloh. "Look Soraa, I hope you know that I still love you very much. Nothing will ever change that! We've been closer than sisters since day one at the orphanage. You remember when we first met?"

That day was so long ago, but Soraa remembered it well. She was still deep in the trauma of losing her parents. "Yeah, I do. The Director brought me into the common room where you and other children were playing together." Soraa smiled with her memory. "I was too afraid to go join in. You looked over at me and smiled, then ran up to me and took me by the hand without saying a word. From that first touch, I knew that I had just met my life-long friend…" Her eyes began to tear up.

Ja'Ina smiled warmly and cupped her hand on the side of Soraa's face. "That's right! I'm glad you remember that day. It seems like yesterday to me. You were right that you had met your life-long friend. Nothing could separate us, even back then. I'm still here with you, aren't I?"

"Yeah, I guess neither of us would have been able to make it through all the years there without each other, but…"

"…I have been spending a lot of time with Ku."

"Uh-huh. And it's not just since I've been laid-up either!"

"You're right, Soraa. I'm sorry that I've made you feel neglected."

"I feel more like you abandoned me!"

Ja'Ina never fully realized just how Soraa felt. This went back to Soraa losing her parents. Even though they were taken away from her, she didn't fully understand it at first and felt like she was abandoned then too. Ja'Ina took Soraa's hand and took a deep breath.

"What is it, Ina?" Soraa asked, confused by her expression.

Ja'Ina paused and bit her lip. "I promised I wouldn't tell anyone… For safety's sake…"

Soraa's expression was one of concern and confusion. "Tell anyone what?"

Ja'Ina had a hard time pulling the words from her mouth. "Well… It turns out that… I have the Force with me." She quickly looked away, ashamed that she hid such an important detail from her dear friend.

Soraa stared at her friend wide-eyed, unsure what to say. She thought about things for a moment and then had a revelation. "You've spent a lot of time with Ku because she also has the Force."

Ja'Ina closed her eyes and nodded her head.

"It makes sense now. She told you, didn't she?"

Ja'Ina looked at Soraa apologetically. "Yeah, while you were in carbon freeze. She told me she could feel it in me. I was shocked when she asked me if I was a Jedi."

"I can only imagine. But what I don't understand is why you didn't tell me? Does anyone else know that Ku has it too?"

"Spiaré is the only one who knows about Ku and me. We had to keep it a secret to protect ourselves and everyone on the _Valkyrie_."

"Because if the wrong people knew you had the Force, you'd be in danger right?"

"Yeah. But anyone who knew a Jedi or other Force-sensitive would also be in danger."

Soraa leaned over and tightly hugged her friend. "Part of me is hurt that you didn't tell me. We've never had any secrets between us, but I now understand the need for discretion. Now that you've told me your secret, what do we do?"

"You must promise me that you will tell no one else that you know this. Not even Spiaré or Berini. Okay?"

"I would rather be thrown into the stomach of a sarlacc than betray your secret!"

Ja'Ina smiled. "You don't need to go _that_ far! A rancor would suffice."

Soraa laughed. "Well, it also explains some of the things you've been able to do back home. Y'know, how you could sense things and do some amazing moves."

"Yep, Ku clarified all of that for me." Ja'Ina stood up again. "So you see, you have nothing to worry about! I can take care of myself in this wretched place."

Soraa leaned back in her bunk, her pain was increasing again. "I do feel better about it. I can rest easier now. Thanks, Ina."

Ja'Ina strapped a long dagger on her thigh and slung her baldric over her shoulder. "You're welcome, my dear Soraa. Now take it easy until we get you into a bacta tank."

Soraa nodded.

Ja'Ina picked up her cortosis scimitar off the small desk and looked it over for a moment. The intricate patterns etched into its polished surface stood out and shone beautifully in the light. She sheathed it on the baldric.

Suddenly, Ja'Ina felt a sharp sensation through the Force. She jerked her head back to face the door, as if she heard something.

Soraa sat back up in spite of the pain. "What is it?"

Ja'Ina shot her open palm back at Soraa. "Shh!"

Ja'Ina slowly walked towards the door in a defensive stance. She waited at the door for a moment and looked back at Soraa, who was freaked out. Now that she knew Ja'Ina's secret, it was clear that Ja'Ina felt they were in danger and Soraa knew it had to be true.

Ja'Ina flung the door open and darted out into the corridor. She looked in both directions down the corridor and saw no one. She paused for a moment and reached out through the Force. She was unable to feel anything amiss anymore. She walked back into the room and closed the door.

"What was it, Ina?" Soraa asked.

"I don't know. But something wasn't right, and it felt like it was right outside the door. Unfortunately, I don't know what it was."

Soraa was unnerved, especially since she was in such a compromised state. Now she was worried again.

Ja'Ina sensed Soraa's concern. "It's okay. Don't worry about it. Everything will be just fine. We'll be back before you know it." She walked towards the door to leave.

"Okay. But save me some action. Don't take all the fun for yourself!"

Ja'Ina turned back to Soraa and laughed. "I'll try not to. But for now, you focus on getting better. I look forward to adventuring with you again!"

Soraa watched Ja'Ina leave. She leaned back on the bunk again and breathed deeply. Her pain was still quite high. Soraa felt better about Ja'Ina leaving the ship. Still, she had some concern given whatever it was that Ja'Ina felt through the Force a few moments ago.

Soraa slowly stood up and went over to the small desk. In one of the drawers, she secretly kept her hold-out blaster. It was strictly against Berini's rules to keep any hidden weapons, but Soraa still felt she needed it; not that she ever expected to use it. It was psychologically comforting. She took the petite pistol out and put it under her pillow, just in case.

Soraa felt more at ease and went to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

* * *

Ja'Ina met Kurloh and Deoni at the gangway of the _Queen Valkyrie_ to head out on their mission on Orvax IV. Everyone was armed – Ja'Ina with her scimitar and dagger, Kurloh with her blaster and Deoni with her vibroblades.

The Zeltron wore an outfit that consisted of a tight one-piece sleeveless garment that ended as short shorts at the bottom. The front was open from the top to below her belly button, revealing only a narrow tube top underneath. She finished it off with light sandals and various pieces of jewelry. This ensemble still gave Deoni a rather alluring appearance while allowing for more practical mobility than her typical shimmersilk outfits.

Kurloh and Ja'Ina wore their usual scanty 'pirate' attire.

The different teams staggered the timings of their egress from the ship as to not attract any unnecessary attention that would tie all of them together. Kurloh, Deoni and Ja'Ina were the last team to exit the ship, and Spiaré was also there to see them off.

"Okay girls, you know what to do," Spiaré said, sounding like a coach about to send them out to play a Crashball match.

Deoni playfully shimmied up to the Jedi. "I sure do!" She spoke with her trademark sultry voice, but as usual he was immune to her charms. She saw his resistance as an enjoyable challenge.

Ja'Ina and Kurloh looked at each other and rolled their eyes at the shameless display.

Spiaré knew exactly what the con-artist was doing. He smiled at her but otherwise ignored her behavior. "Good, then get out there and get us some good stuff like the pirates you are."

Deoni turned and started down the gangway with an exaggerated sway in her hips. Ja'Ina and Kurloh looked at Spiaré, who in turn gave them a reassuring nod and smile. _May the Force be with you…_

* * *

The three women disembarked to the landing platform. There was not much activity save for the typical on-ground operations for starships. The landing platforms were generally lined up side-by-side and were of various sizes to accommodate various classes of ships. The _Queen Valkyrie_, being a Corellian CR90 corvette, was one of the larger vessels there. Some of the slaver guilds would use freighters and transports even larger than the _Valkyrie_ to move their unwilling 'cargo' to and from the planet.

In contrast to the unpleasant business conducted here, the late-morning weather was pleasantly warm and sunny.

Kurloh, Ja'Ina and Deoni walked along until they got to a large plaza, one of countless in the city. What they saw left them awestruck.

The place was teeming with activity. Beings of numerous species filled the open space; some milling about and some moving along with a purpose. It was so crowded that there was no way for vehicles to get through. There were many shops lining the plaza, and there were several auction platforms within sight where slaves were bought and sold. A solid skyline of very tall buildings rose up just beyond the plaza. Strangely festive-sounding live music could even be heard amongst the din.

Even with the slavery stories Ja'Ina heard before, they still couldn't prepare her for what she saw here with her own eyes. While she learned much about the Force in recent months, it was still difficult for her to withstand the wash of mental energies bombarding her from every direction.

These energies that Ja'Ina sensed were of opposing extremes – those of the slavers with absolutely no regard for the dignity or lives of their 'goods', and the slaves, who were filled with extreme variations of anger, fear, despair and loss of free will. Kurloh sensed Ja'Ina's difficulty and put her hand on Ja'Ina's shoulder, squeezing it to bring her comfort and grounding. Ja'Ina gave Kurloh a warm smile of thanks.

Next to them, Deoni took in all of the sights. She was amazed and curious at the same time. She had seen many things in her life, some unpleasant, but this was new to her all the same. The Zeltron walked up to the first auction platform and her companions followed.

This particular platform hosted sales of Wookiees for physical labor. Deoni found it fascinating that a sentient being would take another sentient against its will as property and make a profit from it. She watched closely as the current sale was in progress.

The slave up for sale was a cream-colored male with a tight metal collar around his neck attached to a chain. This Wookiee was touted as being very strong and easy to control. Deoni, being a con-artist herself, was skeptical about the seller's claims. But she wasn't in the market for a slave so she didn't concern herself with it and just continued to watch with much interest. Kurloh and Ja'Ina stood silently next to her, curious about the whole activity but also having to fight the urge to put a stop to it. They had to keep in mind that it was not their mission to free any slaves, nor could they do much good in this crowd anyway.

The Wookiee struggled against his bonds as the auctioneer took in the bids. The price steadily rose and the Wookiee angrily howled. The burly slave keeper pulled on the chain and jabbed the Wookiee with a force pike, which subdued the hairy prisoner. Soon, the bids ended and the Wookiee was ushered away to his new master. The three women turned and left as well.

Ja'Ina glanced at Deoni, who flashed an ambiguous smile back at her. Through the Force, Ja'Ina could tell that the Zeltron was strangely aloof about what they just witnessed.

* * *

Kurloh, Deoni and Ja'Ina made their way through the crowd to another auction platform. This auctioneer sold 'entertainment' slaves. Up for the current auction, there was a beautiful Twi'lek girl with powder blue skin. She looked a little bit younger than Soraa, but with female Twi'leks they often looked younger than their true age.

The slave girl was barely clothed and visibly sobbing; her tears streamed down her cheeks down to the platform by her pale bare feet. The metal collar rested heavily around her neck and she cringed away from the edge of the platform and the lustful crowd.

Ja'Ina's heart ached for the Twi'lek girl and she had to fight back her own tears.

Kurloh took Ja'Ina's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "It's okay, Ina. In an ideal world, we'd be able to rescue her. We have to resign ourselves to the reality that we can't this time."

Ja'Ina nodded at Kurloh and squeezed her hand back.

They turned their attention back to the auction and found that the bidding was now furiously fast. The purchase price for the timid, nubile Twi'lek quickly climbed. Each new bid was met with loud cheers. The ruckus frightened the slave girl even more that she crouched down where she stood and buried her face in her hands. The auctioneer gave one quick, strong tug on the girl's chain leash and she stood back up again, trembling.

The auctioneer's treatment of the girl angered Ja'Ina. It was getting more and more difficult for her to stand by and watch. She wanted to jump up on the platform and relieve the auctioneer of his leash-arm.

_No, don't…_

The bidding war came down to just two buyers - a fat, disgusting-looking human man and a cruel-looking Nikto male. Kurloh and Ja'Ina weren't sure which one would be the worse.

The bidding became even more intense between the two would-be masters. After trading bids back and forth a few times, the human bidder ended up winning. He wiped his grimy hands on his clothes and clambered up to claim his beautiful prize. He handed the auctioneer a satchel of money who in turn handed him the end of the Twi'lek's leash.

The slave girl futilely pulled against the chain and cried, "No! No!" as her new master dragged her away with a disgusting grin. The crowd cheered once more.

Ja'Ina turned away from the despicable spectacle, then noticed that Deoni was nowhere in sight. "Ku! Do you know where Deoni is?"

Kurloh spun around, confused. "I thought she was right here with us. Blast it! We have to find her before she gets into trouble!"

Just then, another roar rose from the crowd. Ja'Ina and Kurloh turned back towards the platform and noticed that the next girl up for sale was a vapid-eyed Togruta. The slave didn't struggle against her bonds but merely stood listless on the platform.

Kurloh was thoroughly incensed. She couldn't stand seeing one of her kind up there. Surprising even to herself, Kurloh couldn't keep it in.

"Stop it!" Kurloh bared her teeth and growled. This elicited laughter from the crowd around the two young women.

"Hey, there's another one over here," a nearby voice said. "Get 'er up there and we'll have a Togruta two-for-one!"

Kurloh felt a tug at her short skirt. She turned and found a beady-eyed Quarren grabbing for her. She screeched and stepped back into another man, who wrapped his long arms around her.

Kurloh strongly kicked her heel up into her captor's crotch and he let her go with a distressed howl. Before the moment passed, Ja'Ina drew her scimitar and slashed the man's leg. He fell to the ground screaming and the startled crowd backed away.

Kurloh drew her blaster. "Alright, that's enough boys! Anyone else tries anything and they'll get more than he did!" She motioned with a jerk of her head to the fallen man behind her.

The Togruta's warning was met with more ominous laughter and the crowd surrounding Ja'Ina and Kurloh slowly closed in on them again. They heard a voice yell out, "These girls could be worth quite a few credits, eh?"

The response was a chorus of foul-sounding agreements in several languages.

Ja'Ina lowered her stance and raised her sword. "This doesn't look good, Ku…"

Kurloh frowned. "I know… Get ready…"

Suddenly, Kurloh rapidly fired several blasts into the ground at their harassers' feet. Her unexpected move caused a panic and many of the beings turned to run away but couldn't due to the denseness of the crowd. The hoodlums stood their ground and drew their own weapons.

"Dammit," Kurloh muttered.

"Got any more ideas?" Ja'Ina answered.

"Mmm hmm. We'll have to go the other way."

Ja'Ina knew exactly what Kurloh meant.

One brute stepped up and yelled at Kurloh and Ja'Ina, "Ya want some trouble, do ya? I'll give ya more than ya e'er need!"

The brute fired his blaster at the young women, but by that time they had already Force-leapt high in the air like birds taking flight. The onlookers were astounded by the seemingly-impossible sight.

The pirates landed just outside of the crowd, ready to complete their getaway. Unfortunately, they landed right in front of a pair of T'surr security enforcers. The T'surr were hulking bipeds who stood well over two meters tall, with dark blue skin and faces with four red eyes and lines of horns. Their fearsome appearance was completed by a mouth full of large sharp teeth and two pairs of arms – one huge and strong, the other much smaller. They sported force pikes with their large main arms.

Ja'Ina and Kurloh were frightened by the menacing beings towering over them. The women dropped their weapons as the crowd closed in behind them.

One of the enforcers spoke, his voice deep and harsh. "What is going on here?!" He looked down at the two young women.

Through the Force, Ja'Ina and Kurloh both sensed that the T'surr held much contempt for other species, which they saw as inferior.

Ja'Ina hesitated. "Well… Uhh…"

"Out with it! Or both you maggots will be tossed into the slave pens!"

That statement was followed by disturbing, low laughter from the crowd.

Kurloh tried to take over for her flustered friend. "You see, it's like this…"

Suddenly, a voice called out, interrupting the situation. "Kuuuu! Inaaaa! There you are!" It was Deoni, strutting up to her comrades. She held a small sack.

The crowd of males all watched the attractive Zeltron walk right up to her friends and the T'surr. The crowd was hypnotized by the alluring rhythm of her gait but the enforcers were not as susceptible.

Deoni reached into the sack and pulled out a handful of credits. She flashed the enforcers a seductive smile even they had a hard time resisting. "Here ya go, guys - for your troubles. Just let my friends go. Mm-kay?"

The T'surr looked at each other, baffled. They then looked down at the three women, struggling with their confused feelings courtesy of Deoni's charms. The T'surr nearest to her held out a huge open hand.

Deoni dumped a generous amount of money into the T'surr's palm and he closed his strong, thick fingers around the gift.

He looked at Ja'Ina and Kurloh again. "You two are very lucky today! If you cause any trouble again, all _three_ of you will be sold off as the chattel you are!"

Deoni continued to lay it on thick. "Sure thing, sweetie! I promise you'll get no more trouble from us!" She turned to her compatriots, "C'mon, let's go girls."

Kurloh and Ja'Ina snatched up their weapons and quickly left the area with their 'rescuer'.

"Dare I ask where you got the money from, Deoni?" Ja'Ina inquired.

Deoni gave her companions a devious grin. "I relieved some spacer of his credits while he was preoccupied with my charms_._"

Kurloh wore an expression of doubt, which the Zeltron picked up on.

"Remember Ku, I have a lot of experience in burgling. Don't question the abilities of a professional thief!" Deoni playfully bumped her hip against Kurloh's, who in turn scowled back.

Ja'Ina jumped in. "So how much did you get?"

Deoni opened up the sack and looked inside. "I dunno exactly; gotta be almost two-thousand. I gave the T'surr an even thousand. I figured that was a nice round number."

Kurloh was disappointed. "One-thousand credits?! You were waaay too generous!"

"I wanted to be sure our friends were satisfied with leaving us alone. Maintaining our freedom in this place is priceless. Count yourselves lucky that they didn't want any more than what I had!"

"Look at it this way, Ku," Ja'Ina reassured the Togruta, "She probably took that guy's means of buying a slave."

"Ina's right," said Deoni. She gave Kurloh a cheesy grin and slapped her on the back of the shoulder.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

* * *

Spiaré spent some time with Soraa on board the _Queen Valkyrie_ as she patiently waited for her turn in the bacta tank. The two of them were playing a friendly game of Sabacc. Usually it was a gambling game, but the Jedi played it with the young woman to teach her how to play, so there was no money involved. Soraa found it to be a fun game, and looked forward to the possibility of making some income from it.

Unbeknownst to Soraa, Spiaré was trying to get her to forget where they were. She was so troubled by being on a slavery planet that she was in danger of relapsing before she could get proper medical treatment. Psychological well-being played just as big a role in her recovery as the physical healing did.

The first of the excursion teams had yet to return. Berini's team would remain with Yifu the entire time she was in the tank. The same would go for Fenn and Soraa when it was their turns for treatment.

The other teams would likely not return for a few local hours while they worked their own missions. Berini hoped that the longest-lead task would be the bacta tank sessions. That way the ship would already be ready to leave once all the patients were treated. She did not want to stay on Orvax IV no longer than absolutely necessary.

* * *

Hours passed and Orvax Prime was getting lower in the sky. Ja'Ina, Kurloh and Deoni continued their trek through the various plazas trying to purloin more money. Ja'Ina and Kurloh, being the ones having the hardest time with the whole practice of slavery, kept themselves in check as they witnessed more atrocities associated with the business transactions carried out there. They learned their lesson from the incident at the Togruta girl's sale and did not want to attract any more unpleasant attention.

Unfortunately, the trio was not able to obtain any more credits than those the crafty Zeltron had somehow managed earlier in the day. Dejected, they decided to return to the _Queen Valkyrie_. As the daylight waned, the last sales of the day were completed and the activity shifted from the auction platforms to the numerous clubs, bars and saloons that lined the plazas. The women were amazed that the slave auctions were replaced by a party atmosphere that belied the horrible business of the day. The three pirates were too exhausted to stick around in the hopes that easier thieving opportunities would present themselves in the new environment.

Ja'Ina, Kurloh and Deoni made it to the landing platform at about the same time as Rann, Marka and Juun. The platform itself was not well-lit, but the ventral floodlights from the ship illuminated the area around the ramp-way back up into the hangar hold. The compatriots silently waved to each other and didn't speak until they were back inside the ship. They all stood around in the hangar.

The Theelin, Marka, spoke for her team first. "We came up as empty as a mynock's brain! How did you guys do?"

Deoni perked up and spoke proudly. "I managed to get us almost a thousand!"

Rann rubbed her aching hip; the day-long hike through the large city taxed her cybernetic leg. She spoke with a twinge of sarcasm. "That's a good start…"

Ja'Ina picked it up from there. "…But we would have had about double that if Deoni didn't have to save Ku and me from being arrested." Embarrassment shone through her voice.

The young woman's statement intrigued Rann, Marka and Juun but they had to save it for the reports at the general debriefing of all the teams that evening.

"Well, we didn't get anything at all. Some pirates we are," Juun dejectedly said.

Rann vented her frustration. "I'm about ready to hold someone up at blaster-point if that's what it takes to get any money around here!"

Deoni was amused. "Sweetie, you just need to work on being more subtle, have some style." She winked at Rann, who frowned back at the Zeltron.

Rann punched her fist into her open hand. "Yeah, well that doesn't always work, especially in a hostile place such as this!"

Ja'Ina stepped in. "Ladies, let's cool our thrusters here. We'll try again tomorrow. We should take a landspeeder trip to another city. Maybe we'll have better results."

"That's the best idea I've heard all day," Kurloh remarked. "Let's raid the mess before the meeting."

Ja'Ina smiled and patted the Togruta on the back. "That the best idea _I've_ heard all day!"

Rann elbowed Marka. "Get a load of these two."

The pirates left the hangar to eat before the meeting.

* * *

Once all of the excursion teams returned to the ship, they gathered in the common room to report their progress. Everyone from the crew was present except for Berini and her team, who stayed with Yifu while she underwent treatment in the bacta tank, Fenn and Soraa, who were ordered to stay in bed until it was their respective turns in the tank, and Aurelia, who was already in Berini's suite getting ready for bed. The crew followed the Captain's orders to keep the teen from knowing where they were and what they were doing.

The Jedi Spiaré was also present, since for all intents and purposes he was now part of the crew as well.

Myrrna, the Twi'lek First Officer, presided over the debriefing. As such, it was the most that Ja'Ina ever heard her speak. Myrrna still held her terse tone of voice, which was hard for Ja'Ina to read, even with her abilities in the Force. Still, the Twi'lek performed her duties with efficiency.

Myrrna relayed from Berini that Yifu's recovery in the bacta tank was proceeding well. The badly-injured Twi'lek would need to remain there for a good part of the next day.

The teams responsible for procuring parts and materials ran out of budget long before they could obtain everything needed for the repairs. It turned out that the prices were much higher than expected. The teams who were to obtain general supplies had a similar story.

As for the teams responsible for 'acquiring' money, they fell far short than expected. Between all of them, they returned with little more than fifteen-hundred credits, including Deoni's catch.

Myrrna's typically harsh countenance did not change, but her feelings now matched her expression. "I'm very disappointed with all of you! What are you, a bunch of amateurs?!"

Rann was offended. "Hey, in case you didn't know, most of us are _not_ thieves by trade! Besides, this place isn't exactly a stroll through the park!"

Myrrna's eyes flashed fire at Rann. "What, is that an excuse I hear?"

"Just the facts, Myrrna."

Myrrna quickly stood up and walked over to Rann and stood right over her. "Berini didn't assemble a crew of incompetents who can only make excuses! Or are you all slacking while the Captain's not here?!" Myrrna's temper was sharply rising. The large scar on her lekku seemed to be pulsating with her anger.

Rann stood up and got right in the angry Twi'lek's face. They stood just about nose to nose, but Myrrna was considerably stronger than Rann. "If you're so good, why don't you get out there and beat the rancor snot out of some little blind and deaf Jawa and take his credits! You're good at that sort of thing!"

Without warning, Myrrna sucker-punched Rann, who fell back in her chair with her nose bloodied. Most of the other women stood up and gasped. Spiaré stayed in his seat and carefully watched the situation. He could sense that Myrrna was walking the edge of a knife. He felt her anger slowly build as they got closer to Orvax. He could only imagine what she must have endured as a slave, which has made her what she was now.

Rann quickly sprang back up, ready to return the favor to her assailant. Kurloh and Marka held her back.

Myrrna tauntingly smiled, "C'mon, try it! I'll take you down so fast that you'll be in carbonite before you can take your next breath!"

Spiaré could no longer stand by. He slowly stood up and spoke like a dignified diplomat. "Ladies, this pointless bickering will get us nowhere."

The others looked at him, surprised that he spoke up.

Myrrna's scowl sharpened even more. "Just who do you think you are, _Jedi_? You are not in command here!"

Spiaré remained perfectly calm. "I never claimed to be, my dear Twi'lek. We just need to remember why we're here and stay focused on our mission. No one wants to stay here any longer than necessary. Berini said as much. Tomorrow will be more successful, I'm sure."

Myrrna pointed a menacing finger at Spiaré. "You'd better be right, _Jedi_!"

"There's no need to threaten me, Myrrna. Remember, I can take _you_ down so fast that _you'll_ be in carbonite before you can throw your first punch. That's a promise."

Given Myrrna's first encounter with Spiaré, she knew he was right. She snarled, "We'll resume tomorrow! Dismissed!" The irate Twi'lek stormed out of the conference room before anyone could say anything else.

The crew never liked it when Myrrna was placed in charge, but this time was probably the worst, likely due to the presently-serious situation.

Rann sat back down and Kurloh knelt down in front of her. "Are you okay?"

Rann forcefully brushed the Togruta's hand away from her face. "Yeah, I'm fine Ku. Don't worry about me." Rann wiped the blood from her nose. Luckily, it was not broken.

* * *

Ja'Ina, Kurloh and Rann went to visit Soraa, who finally was following orders to stay in bed to aid her convalescence. Aurelia regularly brought her food and drink, although the only drink she brought Soraa was sweet Urbur juice, much to the latter's disappointment. Soraa honestly figured that alcohol could help her manage the pain, but in her best interest she was denied any liquor. It was difficult for her, but she somehow managed.

Soraa's three friends entered her quarters. They caught her lost in thought, about Raelin and the others in The Sea of Lights, the band she and Ja'Ina befriended back in Sim Katall. That seemed like another lifetime ago. Soraa wished she hadn't lost the music recording Raelin gave her. But between the shows and the recording, she had listened to the music enough times that she could play it back in her mind. It wasn't quite as good as the real thing, but it was better than nothing.

Ja'Ina was the first to speak, snapping her friend out of her trip down memory lane. "Hey there, sickie! How're ya doing?"

Startled, Soraa snapped back. "Hey, you tryin' to give me a heart attack?!"

Ja'Ina feigned surprise, raising her open hands in front of her. "Whoa, I didn't mean to nearly kill you."

Kurloh and Rann both laughed as all three of them came to sit around Soraa.

"How's my shooting buddy doing," Rann asked. "I'm getting bored with not having any real competition at practice."

"Sorry about that Rannie." That was a new nickname Soraa came up with for Rann, though it annoyed her whenever Soraa used it.

"How's your pain been," Kurloh inquired.

"Ehh, so-so. At least Spiaré's been doing his Force-thing much less often."

Rann chimed in. "So maybe you won't need a dip in the bacta tank after all."

"Nope, I still need it according to Spiaré. I'm fine with it as long as I'm safe while I'm in there."

Ja'Ina reassured her friend. "Of course you'll be safe. Berini's there all the time. And when it's your turn I'll be there too. You can count on it!"

Soraa smiled. "What about you two?" She referred to Kurloh and Rann.

"Nahhh," Rann replied. "Some of us still have work to do out there. We weren't too successful today. Myrrna was not too pleased with our lack of results." She frowned and rubbed her aching nose.

Soraa sighed. "I'm not surprised. I wish I could help. I feel as useless as a three-legged nerf around here."

Rann playfully jabbed Soraa, which made her wince in pain. "Don't you worry about a thing! You'll be good to go in no time at all."

"Thanks," Soraa said with a slight smile. Then she perked up. "Say, you guys wanna play some Sabacc with me? Spiaré's been teaching me how to play."

Rann and Kurloh replied simultaneously. "Yeah, that sounds like fun!"

Ja'Ina was puzzled. "What's Sabacc?"

The others all laughed as Soraa dealt the cards. "A game you'll like, Ina."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

* * *

The next morning, the excursion teams got an early start just before the first light of Orvax Prime. This was partly due to the plan to give themselves as much time as possible to travel to other nearby cities to continue their mission to obtain the needed funds. It was also partly due to avoid First Officer Myrrna, who apparently had not yet left her quarters, which was situated in the cylindrical 'head' of the _Queen Valkyrie_ just below the bridge.

Since the crew had procured all they could in the way of material goods before running out of credits, repairs resumed on the ship. Those not working the repairs or ordered to stay on board were to resume the task of acquiring more money. If worse came to worse, the pirates would no longer try to be so discreet about their burgling. Still, Deoni claimed she could acquire more money using her stealthy skills. Conversely, Ja'Ina was trying to think of more legitimate ways to earn some.

Neither the Y-Wing fighter _Lucky Star_ nor the shuttle _Valkyrie-One_ could leave the dorsal hangar bay with the _Queen Valkyrie_ resting on her landing struts. Therefore, the crew had only their two landspeeders and four speeder bikes at their disposal for travel outside the ship.

Ja'Ina, Deoni and Kurloh took one landspeeder, along with the astromech droid Fitty. Rann, Marka, Juun and the Mirialan named Tedaai took the other landspeeder. Four other pirates took two of the two-seater speeder bikes and the rest remained in the capital city to continue their efforts. The landspeeders were old open-top models originally meant to hold two standard-sized humanoids each, but they were modified so they could just barely cram four.

The women with vehicles headed out for the three nearest cities – each landspeeder to one each and the four on the speeder bikes to the third. Since the parties were going to be more spread out, the teams each took a comlink to stay in touch. The speeders and bikes all zipped out of their mothership at the same time and split off to head their different directions.

* * *

Kurloh drove the landspeeder, with Ja'Ina next to her and Deoni crammed behind Ja'Ina. Fitty was wedged in next to Deoni.

Turning their landspeeder toward their destination, Kurloh spoke first. "We'd better get some good money today; I'm not in the mood to Myrrna's rancor-ish wrath!"

Ja'Ina was the most uncertain of the three, but also the most hopeful. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll have better luck today."

Deoni laughed. "Worse comes to worse, we could pawn off chrome-dome here!" She thumbed toward Fitty.

The astromech droid let out a screeching blat at the Zeltron, which likely would have translated to a rather unfriendly expletive. Deoni laughed again and slapped the top of his domed head.

Ja'Ina didn't like the joke. "C'mon! We can't sell Fitty! Not for all the credits on this disgusting planet."

Deoni grabbed Ja'Ina's shoulders from behind and gave her a playful shake. "Oh, Ina! Lighten up, will ya? I'd never sell the cute little sprocket-head!"

"Well," Kurloh interrupted, "I'm wondering if there's really any way to make money in this damn place outside of selling slaves…"

"Maybe you could work in a blaster shop?" Ja'Ina innocently asked. "That's what Soraa did for a long time."

"Funny! That'd be maddeningly boring. Besides, how long would it take to earn a decent amount of money? I doubt Berini wants to be here long enough for that."

"I suppose you're right. I was thinking I could take up bartending again, or even dancing. But that would take too long too, I guess." Ja'Ina couldn't hide her disappointment after she realized her idea was not well thought out.

Deoni was amused with Ja'Ina's naiveté. "My dear Ina, you start dancing your little self around here and someone will slap a collar on you and sell you to the highest bidder before finish your first routine!"

Ja'Ina shuddered with that thought. Her memories of how uncomfortably close she and Soraa came to such a fate with Mehar chilled her to the core.

Kurloh was getting annoyed. "Enough with your nonsense, Deoni! We're not playing a game here!"

Deoni reclined as best she could in the cramped space of the speeder. "Bah, you guys're no fun at all! Maybe I shoulda stayed on board with Myrrna and Spiaré. At least they're entertaining to watch!"

Ja'Ina did not understand why Deoni was so flippant about their situation. She could not read the Zeltron's feelings very well, which she attributed to her limited abilities with the Force. Maybe Deoni's thieving skills were more formidable than she led on, which could account for her easygoing attitude. She may well have the confidence that she could steal all of the Emperor's treasure from underneath his very nose.

The skills Deoni had demonstrated thus far were very impressive. Still, Ja'Ina was uncertain with where the con-woman stood with respect to the rest of the crew.

* * *

Back on board the _Queen Valkyrie_, Soraa slowly shuffled through the corridor. She was still dressed just in a robe with her extensive bacta-treated bandages showing underneath. She couldn't stand being in quarters anymore and headed for the common room, figuring the change of scenery and increase of space would do her some good.

Soraa arrived at the common room to find it empty, much to her relief. Everyone else had already finished their morning meal and returned to duty and therefore no one around who would try to force her to go back to bed. The door to the mess was still open and Soraa was hungry so she stepped in to see what she could get. She poked around for a bit until Aurelia walked around a corner and was startled by Soraa's presence. The girl was carrying a bowl she just cleaned, which she dropped in surprise.

The loud crash of the breaking bowl made Soraa nearly shoot out of her skin. She flashed a wide-eyed look at Aurelia.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" the teen stammered as she knelt down to pick up the pieces. "I'm so sorry!"

Soraa breathed a sigh of relief and wearily leaned against a counter. She unknowingly over-exerted herself in walking over to the common room and the subsequent shock compounded it. "No, no, it's okay Aurelia. Don't worry about it."

Aurelia looked up at her. "I was going to bring you something to eat when I finished here."

Soraa smiled back through her pain. "Well, I saved you the trouble."

"No trouble! Berini wouldn't like you to be out of bed."

"Well, the Captain's not here now, is she?" Soraa winked at the teen.

Aurelia silently shook her head as she picked up the last pieces of the bowl and stood up.

"There ya go then! I'll just take my breakfast here."

Aurelia nodded with a smile.

A few minutes later, Aurelia brought Soraa a delicious breakfast. They both sat at the large conference table. The teen took a drink of bantha blue milk.

Soraa took a couple of bites. "So Aurelia, what have you been doing since we got here?"

Aurelia stared at the table top. "Cooking and working on my current studies in my holotexts. I've spent most of the time up in our quarters."

"You have some nice views up there, don't you?"

"Uh huh…" Aurelia fidgeted for a moment. "…Soraa, this is a slave planet, isn't it?"

Soraa quickly shoved another bite of food into her mouth to avoid answering. She hoped that the girl would drop the subject.

Aurelia turned to Soraa and grabbed her arm. "…Isn't it?"

"Huh? Well, uhh…"

Aurelia let go and turned back to her glass of blue milk. "It's okay. I already know. Berini tries to hide such things from me, but I still find out anyway."

Soraa knew about the girl's history in slavery. There was no way she wanted to go down that road. Not knowing what to do or say, she instead focused on her food.

Aurelia's voice lowered to a mournful whisper. "I wish we weren't here…"

"Me too, but it couldn't be helped. Once we get everything fixed up, then we'll be off of this forsaken dirt ball."

"I'm worried about everyone who left the ship."

"It's okay. The ladies of the _Queen Valkyrie_ can take care of themselves, right?" Soraa shot a bright smile at Aurelia, who still wasn't convinced.

Soraa took Aurelia's hand. "Oh come on. Everyone made it back okay last night; they'll make it back tonight too. They know how to handle this place."

* * *

After a local planetary hour of travel, Kurloh, Deoni and Ja'Ina arrived into the new city and parked their landspeeder. Everyone got out and Fitty rolled up behind them on his triad of wheeled feet. The three pirates took in the sights before starting their walk.

This city resembled the capital in pretty much every way, right down to the slave auction platforms in the middle of the crowded plaza the women came to.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Kurloh complained. "This'll be just like yesterday!"

Deoni cracked her knuckles. "We'll see about that, my dear Ku!" She flashed a playfully devious smile at her companions.

The Togruta shook her head. "You must know something we don't, Deoni. You're so certain you can get more credits today?"

"I can give you a guarantee on my experience as a thief! Besides, with the kind of business conducted here, there's bound to be a lot more money ripe for the taking!"

Fitty beeped and booped his own disbelief toward Deoni's claims.

Deoni frowned at the astromech droid. She recognized the incredulous demeanor of his electronic sounds. "Hmmm, what would it take to convince you, my little metal friend?"

Fitty launched into a long, complicated stream of tootles, blats and buzzes in reply to the Zeltron's question. All three of the pirates watched him in total puzzlement. It was as if he forgot they couldn't really understand him. Fact was he didn't care. He had a lot on his electronic processors and he was going to share it all, translation be damned.

Kurloh let out a loud sigh. "We could sure use a translator droid about now."

Ja'Ina cut in. "Maybe that's not a good idea if he was saying anything about what we're really here for."

The three women and astromech droid approached the first plaza. Indeed, it was more or less the same situation as the day before. The only difference was that it wasn't nearly as crowded. There was actually a lot of space for the traffic that was comprised of various repulsorlift craft and even some beasts of burden like rontos and banthas.

They came around a corner and happened on a young man walking alone. Without hesitation, Deoni motioned to her crewmates to stand by and watch. The hapless target was clearly enamored at the sight of three nubile females who were less-than-fully-dressed. Deoni was easily the most alluring to him, an inherent characteristic of the Zeltron race. She approached him with a strut and smile that made him believe that she wanted him in a highly amorous fashion.

"Hi there, handsome," Deoni purred. "What'cha doin' here on Orvax?"

Ja'Ina and Kurloh watched in fascination. Kurloh had heard of the natural talents of Zeltrons, but didn't really see it in the representative crewmates on the _Queen Valkyrie_. Fitty moved his domed head a little bit from side-to-side to express his disbelief.

The young man stammered. "Uh, well, I'm here to buy a, umm, slave?" Either he was unsure of what he was doing there, or ashamed to admit it.

"Well now, that was a silly question for me to ask, hmm? What else would a handsome, strapping man be doing here?"

The young man merely gulped in response.

"What's your name, honey?"

"Uhhh, Herei…"

Deoni lowered her voice and spoke with a sultry timbre. "Well, Herei, how about you and I go over there and talk more about it, alone?" She gestured to a nearby alleyway.

Ja'Ina leaned over and whispered to Kurloh, "Let's just watch Deoni work her _magic_." The Togruta merely rolled her eyes in response.

Beads of sweat formed on Herei's forehead. "Well, uhhh…"

Deoni reached out and grabbed the young man's arm, hooking hers in his. "Awww, c'mon. I just wanna talk with you for a minute," she cooed. She playfully pursed her lips as if she wanted to kiss him.

The Zeltron con-artist led the hapless young man around the corner. Kurloh and Ja'Ina followed at a distance to keep an eye out, but not interfere with Deoni's work. Fitty softly whistled behind them.

The thief and her victim stopped several meters down in the alley, just out of sight from the street. She stood right up in front of him. Her deep eyes mesmerized him. Her warm breath in his face excited him.

"Now then," Deoni continued, "How much do you have for your… _purchase_?"

"Umm, about twenty-five hundred."

Deoni shifted her weight onto one leg, which jutted her hip out playfully, and rubbed her chin, feigning serious thought. "I don't know; that's not very much… But it will have to do."

Kurloh and Ja'Ina both peered around the corner into the alley to watch Deoni do her work. Fitty pushed the women from behind as if to get them to join her.

A smile filled Deoni's attractive, scarlet face as she looked at Herei. He didn't know what to do except nervously smile back. Without warning, Deoni quickly pinned her hapless victim against the wall with one of her activated vibroblades out at his throat. It hummed ominously and the young man panicked.

"Wh-wh-what's going on h-here?!" he cried out. He was so shocked that he couldn't scream for help.

Kurloh and Ja'Ina were nearly as surprised as the young man was. They darted up behind Deoni while Fitty stayed at the corner to keep watch at the street. Kurloh reflexively drew her blaster. Ja'Ina heightened her situational awareness in case their deed attracted attention.

"It's just business, sweetheart! Nothin' personal, I assure you," Deoni said with a devious smile. "Your credits, if you please."

Without hesitation, Herei produced his wallet and she snatched it from his hand.

"Thank you! We appreciate your business!" Deoni's smile turned sinister.

"You're… Welcome?" The poor victim was hyperventilating.

The Zeltron put her index finger to his lips. "Shhhhh…" He calmed down a little.

In a flash, Deoni plunged the vibroblade into his gut and he fell down dead. Kurloh quickly pointed her blaster at the Zeltron and Ja'Ina quickly drew her sword.

"What the kriff did you do that for?!" Kurloh yelled.

Deoni wiped her weapon clean and returned it to its hidden sheath. "We can't have him identify us to the authorities now, can we? Relax; this kind of thing will happen sometimes in a place like this." She shrugged nonchalantly.

Ja'Ina was devastated by Deoni's lack of compassion. "He wasn't even armed!"

"That was his fault. He should have never come here without a weapon."

Panicked, Kurloh yelled at Deoni. "Stang! We gotta get out of here before someone notices your _handiwork_!"

"Relax, would you?" The Zeltron shook her head.

"Ku's right, Deoni," Ja'Ina insisted. "We need to go. Now!"

Kurloh and Ja'Ina took off down the alleyway away from the street. Deoni shrugged and followed in a more leisurely manner, strutting off with a swing in her hips.


	13. Chapter 13

_Author's note: I would like to thank you for reading my story. I also would like to invite you to leave a review, even if it's constructive criticism. I appreciate any and all reviews, and I respond through PM's to every one I get, as long as you have an account I can contact you through. We now return you to the story... :-)_

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

Kurloh's comlink rang out, indicating an incoming call. She, along with Deoni and Ja'Ina had just made it to a hiding place that was safe for the moment, so she answered.

The Togruta answered tersely. "Kurloh here. What do you want?" She was still quite upset from the death of the innocent young man at Deoni's hands.

"Ku, it's Rann. What's wrong with you? Got a womp rat up your exhaust port?"

"Just cut it! It's a long story." She sighed and composed herself. "What's up?"

"We've got a slight problem here. A Lambda-class shuttle has landed here and deposited a squad of Imperial troops."

Kurloh shot a worried look at Ja'Ina. "Blast it! Any idea why?"

"I dunno, but that just made our job a little bit more challenging. I thought Berini said there was no reason for the Empire to be out here."

"Yeah, I know. Just be careful, and for the love of the Force, don't go purposely hunting them down like you did back on Irsiss."

"I know, I know! Rann out."

Kurloh replaced the comlink on her belt. Without missing a beat, she turned to Deoni. "Do you realize what you've done?!"

"Cool your thrusters, Ku," Deoni said. "What's done is done and we can't do anything more about it. Besides, look what we got here." She held out the money she took from the hapless young man. "A cool twenty-six fifty."

Kurloh slapped the money out of Deoni's hand. "That doesn't matter! You did _not_ have to kill him!"

The Zeltron picked her loot up off the ground. "Do you know that for sure? I'm pretty sure I took that guy's means of buying a slave." She spoke with a slight tinge of sarcasm as she echoed Ja'Ina's words from the day before.

"You call yourself a _master thief_!" Kurloh scoffed. "You should be able to steal from someone without attracting unnecessary attention! Are you _trying_ to undermine our mission?"

Deoni stood up, offended by the Togruta's accusation. "Why you-!"

Ja'Ina sprang up and got between them. "Stop it, both of you! We have got to get away from here before we're tracked down!"

Kurloh backed down and took a deep breath to clear her mind. "Ina's right. We need to go. We should probably head back to the capital and the _Valkyrie_ just to be safe."

Deoni laughed. "And I thought you were pirates! Things get a little bit exciting and now you want to run back home? I must say I'm disappointed. Berini convinced me you all were _professionals_."

Ja'Ina became defensive. "Yeah, we're pirates, but we do try to hold ourselves to a moral standard."

Deoni shook her head. "Pitiful. I've never heard such nonsense from outlaws before." She grabbed Ja'Ina's hand and stuffed the money into it. "Here. You can have this. Take it back to your goody-goody pirate ship. If you don't like the way I work, stay outta my way!" She turned and ran off.

"Hey!" Ja'Ina called out.

"Let her go," said Kurloh. "I don't know what she's up to, but we should get back to the ship. I'm sure she'll find her way back when she's finished, or she won't come back at all. At this point I don't care either way."

Ja'Ina stared at the cash in her hands. "If we didn't need this so badly, I'd throw it away." A couple of tears streamed from her cheeks and fell onto the money, as if to cleanse it of the blood Herei paid for it.

"It's okay, Ina. Like it or not, Deoni was right. What's done is done. We'll put it to good use. Keep that in mind." She gave Ja'Ina a reassuring smile.

Ja'Ina nodded and stuffed the money into a pouch on her utility belt.

Kurloh activated her comlink. "Fitty, meet us back at the speeder. We're returning to the ship."

An affirmative whistle came through the comlink's speaker. The young women carefully headed back for their landspeeder, eager to leave this city behind.

* * *

After some time of cautious travel, Ja'Ina and Kurloh made it back to where they parked their landspeeder. Fitty was already standing by it, with some of his utility appendages extended out to one of the engines. He noticed that the women made it back and began whistling and screeching frantically at them. Kurloh and Ja'Ina made haste back to the speeder to find out what happened.

"What is it Fitty?" Ja'Ina asked as she looked at the engine he was poking at. "What is this? It looks like a mess."

Fitty pointed his photoreceptor at her and gave a mournful sound.

Kurloh looked at the other engine. "Blast it! This one's damaged too; like it's been ripped apart on the inside. Who would do this?"

Ja'Ina crouched down in front of the droid. "Fitty, can you fix the engines?"

Fitty let out another mournful sound.

"That sounds like a 'no', Ina."

"Damn," Ja'Ina muttered. "What're we gonna do now?"

"Surely there's a repair shop somewhere."

Ja'Ina gave a precursory scan of the immediate area. "I don't know about that, Ku. Unless you're in the slave trade I don't think there's much business for you around here."

"Don't be so pessimistic! There's gotta be someone in this town who knows how to fix speeder engines."

Ja'Ina sighed. "Alright, let's start walking. Hopefully we'll find someone who can and will help us."

Kurloh smiled and put her arm around her friend, pushing her along. "Relax, we have some credits here. Surely it'll be enough to get the speeder repaired. Of course, we'll be lucky if we'll have any left to take back." Kurloh shook her head in disappointment with her realization.

Ja'Ina called back to the astromech. "C'mon Fitty, let's go."

The droid happily tooted and extended his third leg, glad that Ja'Ina and Kurloh weren't going to leave him behind again. He quickly rolled up behind the young women as they walked off in search of a speeder mechanic.

* * *

Back on the ship, Aurelia invited Soraa to join her in Berini's top-deck suite. Aurelia wanted the company and Soraa wanted to be anywhere but her quarters, so it was a good setup.

Aurelia sat at the rectangular table in the center of the lounge studying from a couple of holotexts. Soraa lay down on the port-side couch to rest. She closed her robe up around her to stave off the chill. The view out of the large window-like viewports out of either side of the room was expansive. Since the _Queen Valkyrie_ was one of the larger ships parked at that particular section of landing pads there was a fairly clear view of the surrounding parts of the city.

It was an overcast day so the visible surroundings were robbed of some of their normal colors in the dreariness, which mirrored the unpleasantness of the business conducted there. Still, neither Soraa nor Aurelia even thought about that and focused on what they were doing then and there. It was quiet except for the subtle sounds of Aurelia's study activities and the soft hum of the ship's systems.

Soraa drifted in and out of sleep, struggling with the pain of her still-healing wounds. The trauma of the attack caused her to have occasional nightmares which would also interfere with her sleep. Another of these nightmares hit Soraa as she lay on the couch and she startled awake with a yelp. This also startled Aurelia who looked up from her texts with wide, anxious eyes.

Soraa took a couple of deep breaths. "I-I'm sorry, Aurelia. I guess I'm still getting over the battle with the Imperial destroyer."

The teen softly replied. "That's okay Soraa. I know what happened to you. I am glad you didn't die." Aurelia pointed out one of the port-side viewports behind Soraa.

Puzzled, Soraa slowly propped herself up and peeked out of the window. She scanned the view of the top of the ship right outside. Then she caught sight of what Aurelia must have been talking about. Soraa nearly passed out from the sight.

She saw what remained of the port-side laser turret she manned during the battle. What normally would have been a domed turret protruding from the ship's hull was now just a rough hole patched up with durasteel plating.

Soraa slumped back down onto the couch with a sigh. Her face turned pale with the sight. "I guess it's amazing that I survived. I barely even remember the actual battle."

"Mister Spiaré said something about how the 'Will of the Force' kept you alive."

Soraa knowingly smiled to herself. The old 'her' would have scoffed at such a notion, but now that she knew about Ja'Ina's connection to the Force she agreed with what Aurelia heard the Jedi say.

"Yeah, I suppose Spiaré was right. I really don't see how I could have lived through it otherwise."

"Berini said she didn't know when she could get the gun fixed."

Soraa slowly stood up and walked over to sit at the table. "Yeah, I'm sure that you and the rest of the crew are much more important than getting that gun fixed." She smiled at Aurelia, who smiled back as she put her holotexts aside.

The holoprojector then rang out and an image of Gartia, the Theelin communications officer appeared. "Aurelia, you have a call from Berini."

The girl sprang up from her chair. "Yay! Please put her on for me."

Gartia simply smiled and nodded her head. Her image was then replaced with Berini's, who was visibly happy to see Aurelia.

"Good morning, my dear Aurelia! How are you?"

A big smile beamed from the teen's face. "I'm fine, Berini. I'm just studying right now. Soraa's here, keeping me company." She motioned to Soraa.

"Hi Captain," Soraa said sheepishly. She wasn't sure if it was okay with Berini for her to be there.

"Well, hi there to you too, Soraa. Looks like you're feeling better."

"A little, Captain. I'm looking forward to the treatment."

"Well, Yifu is nearly complete so we'll be returning soon to take Fenn next. You should be able have your turn in the bacta tank around this time tomorrow."

Soraa felt relieved with the news. "I'm glad to hear that."

"I just received a report from Myrrna about our progress. I can't say I'm pleased, but I also can't say I'm surprised. I know we're doing the best we can."

"Ina told me this morning that they were spreading out to a couple of nearby cities to hopefully get better results."

"Good! I expect to hear some better news!" Berini looked towards the teen. "My Dear, make sure Soraa here doesn't make herself worse!" She winked.

"Yes Berini," Aurelia replied.

"See you soon! Berini out."

The holo-image wavered and faded out.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

* * *

It was getting to be midday and so far Ja'Ina and Kurloh had no luck finding a speeder mechanic's shop. Pretty much every business was of a leisure variety – cantinas, bars, hotels, clubs and so forth. Fitty followed along behind the women tootling to himself as he liked to do.

One thing Ja'Ina and Kurloh noticed, just like at the capital city, is they saw very few unaccompanied females of any species, save for some human and near-human. The rest were in blatant or implied positions of some sort of servitude. The two lady pirates did attract many unpleasant looks, but no one bothered them; probably because they were armed and looked like they knew how to use their weapons.

"We're getting nowhere," Kurloh grumbled. "At this rate it'd be quicker to ditch the speeder and walk back to the capital."

Ja'Ina looked at the Togruta wryly. "Very funny, Ku. Surely there's gotta be someone who can fix speeders around here. Mechanics have to eat and drink too."

"Alright, then maybe we should head into one of these bars and ask around."

"Now you're talkin!" They happened to find themselves in front a tavern at that moment. "How 'bout this place?" Ja'Ina motioned to the entrance.

The sign read _Ak-Lak's Water Hole_. There was a cacophony of voices streaming out of the entrance, indicating a full house.

"I think we may have a good chance here, Ina. Let's go." Kurloh stopped short. "Oops, you'll have to wait outside again, Fitty."

The astromech droid immediately squeaked and bobbed his body towards a sign next to the entrance. It read _Droids Always Welcome Here!_

Kurloh was surprised. It was very unusual for bars and cantinas to allow droids into their establishments when their primary clientele were organics. She pointed to the sign and shrugged at Ja'Ina. "Well then, call me a Kowakian monkey-lizard's aunt! What're we waiting for?"

Ja'Ina, Kurloh and Fitty entered the tavern. It was packed to the walls with patrons of every species imaginable. There was probably just as many different languages being spoken there as well. The place was lit only from individual lights over the various tables and the bar itself. The place was extremely noisy from the countless conversations; so much so that one couldn't even tell if the music player was even running.

At the bar was a large Besalisk with all four of his arms at work deftly making and serving a number of drinks simultaneously for his patrons. Seeing the bartender at work reminded Ja'Ina that part of her missed working the bar at Norrel's Haven back in Sim Katall. A motley crew of outdated service droids was making their rounds between the tables.

In the near corner to the right of the entrance was the droid area. It was partitioned off from the rest of the bar by a metal bar railing about a meter high. Inside were several droids of different types, mostly astromechs. They were conversing among themselves in their various binary and machine languages. Some basic services were available for the droids, such as lubricant refreshes and power conduits for recharging – for a fee of course. It was like a mechanicals' version of youngling daycare.

Fitty spied the droid pen and happily squealed. Kurloh and Ja'Ina both laughed.

"Alright, alright! Go make some new friends!" Ja'Ina told the little droid with a grin.

He turned and quickly rolled over to the pen while the young women walked over to the bar. The majority of the beings in the tavern were so wrapped up in their own conversations and drinks that they didn't notice Ja'Ina and Kurloh, the only females in the bar, walking by.

The pair walked up to the bar and wedged themselves between other patrons, who looked at them and grumbled before going back to their own drinks.

The Besalisk bartender noticed his new patrons and leaned over the bar in front of them. "Welcome, welcome young misses!" He spoke with a booming voice that cut through the din. "I must admit I don't see very many females come in here. What can I get for ya?"

"I'd like a Corellian spiced ale," Kurloh replied.

Ja'Ina stood up on her tip-toes to compensate for her short stature. "I'd just like water, please."

The bartender let out a rich belly laugh. "Sweetheart, the only water we have here is fire water! People come here to put rocket fuel in their thrusters, not irrigate their vegetable gardens!"

Ja'Ina sighed. "Well, nothing for me then."

"Suit yerself!"

Without turning around, the bartender used one pair of his arms to grab a mug and dispense Kurloh's ale from the tap. His other arms were busy taking money from other patrons for their orders.

The Besalisk brought the filled mug around and placed it in front of Kurloh. "Sixty credits."

Kurloh was shocked with the inflated price. "Wow! Whatever, here you go." She still gave the bartender a small tip.

The bartender slightly bowed his head. "Thanks, missy!" Without hesitation, he went to his next patrons to fill their orders.

Kurloh turned around and leaned up against the bar with one foot up on the foot rail behind her. She took a gulp of her drink. "Mmmm! This is good stuff! You sure you don't want to try some? The Captain turned me on to it."

"No thanks." Ja'Ina also turned around. "So where do we start?" She scanned the tavern for anyone who looked like they could fix speeders.

Kurloh turned to the patron next to her and tapped him on the arm. "'Scuse me. Do you know how to repair landspeeder engines?"

He glanced over contemptuously at the Togruta and turned back to his business without saying anything.

Kurloh frowned. "How rude!"

Ja'Ina perked up. "Lemme try." She turned to the patron next to her and leaned over the bar as to get into his field of view. "Hi there!" she said with an inviting smile.

He looked at her and replied, "Hi," with a slight upward nod of his head. He turned back to his business.

Ja'Ina looked back at Kurloh, who shrugged.

Ja'Ina tried again. "Hi there!"

The man stopped his own conversation and turned to face her. He looked her over head to toe, noting her skimpy garb. He also noticed the sword she carried on her back. "What do you want?!" He was clearly perturbed.

Ja'Ina's smile dissolved. "Well, uhh, my friend and I are looking for someone who can repair speeder engines."

"Sorry, sweetheart. I can't help you there." He smiled at her. "However-"

Through the Force Ja'Ina sensed what he was thinking about. "Never mind! Don't say it, or else!" The man had less-than-savory thoughts about her.

"Or else what? You gonna slap me?" He smugly smiled at her.

Without warning, Ja'Ina shot a quick open-handed jab right to his midsection. It wasn't a hard hit, but it was enough to knock the wind out of him. He looked at her, nervously surprised.

"Or else you'll get much more than that, I guarantee you." Ja'Ina grabbed Kurloh's arm and pulled her away from the bar. "C'mon, let's go somewhere else!"

The young women squeezed themselves in between other patrons and tables, ignoring the gropes they received, even if they seemed intentional. The last thing they wanted was to unnecessarily create a scene. They were getting used to the fact that they would receive some mistreatment here because they were female. They walked up to a random table. The patrons there were engaged in an intense high-stakes game of Sabacc. Kurloh motioned to Ja'Ina that she'd take care of it.

Kurloh leaned over the table. "Hey there, boys! Do any of you happen to be a speeder mechanic?"

Her question was met by much unpleasant grumbling. A rough looking human with a nasty scar on his face barked at her. "No! If you're not gonna play then get outta here, girl!"

An Aqualish was at the table as well. He looked up at the Togruta and spoke brutishly. "I'm notta mech'nic, but I'm in tha' market fer a girl. Ya interested?" He stroked Kurloh's leg and everyone at the table laughed hard.

Kurloh drew her blaster and pointed it right between his large black eyes. "Nope, but I'm interested in target practice unless you take your slimy paw off me!"

The other players at the table drew their blasters and pointed them at Kurloh. The Aqualish guffawed.

"Hey, no blasters in here!" the Besalisk bartender yelled out from the bar. "Take it outside!"

Through the Force, Ja'Ina sensed deception from the Aqualish. She slipped around behind him and snatched a couple of extra cards from his sleeve. "What have we here," she said innocently.

The scarred man looked over at Ja'Ina. "What's that you said?!" The other players turned their blasters from Kurloh to the Aqualish.

"I dunno what this girl's talkin 'bout!" The Aqualish stood up from the table.

The scarred man also stood up. "Sure ya don't!"

The bartender yelled again. "That's enough you guys! Get outta my bar!"

The Aqualish roared and flipped the table over, which started a melee that quickly spread through the tavern. Kurloh holstered her blaster and made her way towards the exit after Ja'Ina.

Ja'Ina shouted at the top of her lungs. "Fitty! We're leaving! Now!"

An electronic whistle from the astromech could barely be heard over the noise.

The young women had to fight their way out, though there was barely room to move. Ja'Ina swept one patron's legs and he went down so she could easily jump over him. Kurloh socked another patron in the face, causing him to stumble out of her way. Other patrons not wanting to get caught in the fight were also making a rush for the door.

Ja'Ina and Kurloh tumbled out of the tavern in a pile of patrons. Fitty managed to bulldoze his way out and was already waiting for them nearby.

Ja'Ina called out, "We've got company!"

Several T'surr enforcers were making their way to the fracas looking like they were ready to bash some skulls together. Ja'Ina and Kurloh scrambled to their feet and ran off with Fitty right behind them.

The three made their way around a corner and stopped. Kurloh and Ja'Ina stooped over, out of breath while Fitty stood very close to them with his orange-trimmed head scanning side-to-side.

Without warning a human man rounded the corner and nearly ran into the women, who reflexively shot back up and drew their weapons on him.

The man stopped in his tracks and raised his hands. "Whoa there, ladies! Hold on!"

Kurloh did not lower her blaster. "What do you want?! Speak up before I burn a hole through you!"

The man had close-cropped black hair and a round goatee. He wore khaki pants and a matching jacket over a white shirt. He carried a blaster, but it was still holstered. "I just ran out of Ak-Lak's myself! That was quite the mess in there!"

Ja'Ina stepped forward with her dagger in hand. "We didn't start it, if that's what you're getting at."

"No, Miss. I was not getting at any such thing. I managed to overhear you looking for a speeder mechanic. I'm not one by trade, but I am mechanically inclined."

Kurloh frowned. "Oh, so you're being a nice guy and offering your services to complete strangers."

The man still had his hands up in the air. "Well, I wouldn't do it for free of course."

"We _have_ money."

The man looked up at his hands. "May I?"

Ja'Ina motioned downward with her dagger and nodded.

He lowered his hands. "Thanks. Now if you show me your speeder, we'll see what we can do."

Kurloh returned her blaster to its holster. "Very well, let's go."

"What's your name?" Ja'Ina asked as she sheathed her dagger.

"It's Arkathan, Arkathan Oran," he answered with a smile. "But I usually go by Ark."

"Okay then, Ark. I'm Ja'Ina and this is Kurloh. Follow us." The pirates turned and started walking.

Ark smiled with his eyebrows raised. "My pleasure, Ja'Ina." He looked the women over as they walked in front of him, clearly pleased with the sight of their skimpy garb.

Without looking back, Kurloh called to Ark, "No staring!"

"Aww, c'mon. As a man I can appreciate the rear view, can't I?"

Ja'Ina shook her head and sighed. "Just don't take it any further. Sheesh!"

Ark snapped a salute.

The group headed back to where the pirates' speeder was parked.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

* * *

Ja'Ina's and Kurloh's damaged landspeeder was still parked where they left it. Ark looked over one of the engines.

"Whew," he exclaimed, "what a mess. What happened?"

Ja'Ina stood next to Ark. "We don't know. We came here from the capital city and left it for a little while. We came back and found it like this."

"Someone did quite a job wrecking your engines here. Do you know who it was?"

"Nope. Not a clue."

"We don't have any enemies here that we know of," Kurloh added.

Ark started digging into the wrecked engine. "Well, my dear Togruta, with the kind of people this place attracts you don't necessarily need any direct enemies. Especially when you're an attractive woman walking around here by yourself."

Kurloh frowned. "We're tired of hearing about being _unaccompanied females_."

"It's the harsh reality," he replied matter-of-factly with a shrug. "What're you doing here anyway?"

"Well, we had to land on Orvax to make repairs to our ship."

Ark looked up thoughtfully. "I see…" He went back to looking at the engine.

Ja'Ina walked up next to him. "So what are you doing here, if you don't mind my asking?"

Without looking up from the nacelle, he said, "I do mind. I don't think you'd like to know."

"What does that mean?" Kurloh asked, concerned by his comment.

Ark turned and looked at Kurloh. "I mean, I really could use the money I earn here and don't want to…discourage you from doing business with me."

Kurloh's eyes grew wide. She could pretty much guess what he was talking about.

Innocently curious, Ja'Ina said, "Don't worry about it. We'd like to know."

Kurloh turned to Ja'Ina and whispered in her ear. "What do most people come here to do?"

All it took was a couple of seconds then it hit Ja'Ina. She gasped. "You're here to buy a-"

Ark cocked his head. "Yeah, I am. What's it to you anyway?"

Kurloh took a heavy sigh and frowned at him. "I'm afraid it's kinda personal. We have several friends who are former slaves."

"You don't look like someone who's into owning slaves," Ja'Ina said with hope.

Ark put his hands on his hips. "First of all, I only want one. Secondly, how are slave owners _supposed_ to look, hideously fat ugly slugs?"

Neither of the women said anything.

"Well, I guess I was right, I blew my business opportunity here." Ark sighed and turned to leave. "See ya around…"

Ja'Ina grabbed his arm. "No, please wait!"

Ark stopped and turned around. He looked right into Ja'Ina's dark brown eyes as if to look into her very soul.

Ja'Ina continued. "In case you didn't know, speeder techs are in short supply here."

"Yeah, but now you know that I'm a scum of the galaxy."

Kurloh stepped up. "Look, if you do a good job and we don't see you conducting your… _other business_, we'll pretend we don't know anything about it."

Ark nodded with a smile. "Sounds good to me."

"How much are we looking at here?"

"Well, the internals are pretty much trashed, but at least the nacelles and main interfaces are still intact. Your speeder's an older standard model, so it shouldn't be hard to get the parts. It'll take me a good part of the afternoon to complete… Twenty-five hundred."

Kurloh stamped her foot. "What? We could almost buy a used speeder for that!"

Ark shrugged. "How many speeder shops have you found around here?"

Ja'Ina pushed Kurloh aside. "We'll give you two-thousand; half now and half when you finish."

Surprisingly, Ark quickly replied, "Okay, it's a deal." The women expected more of a pushback on their offer.

Ja'Ina produced the money from her pouch and handed it to Ark.

"Thank you. Now you run along while I take care of your speeder. Just don't wreck any more bars today." He winked at Ja'Ina.

Kurloh, Ja'Ina and Fitty left Ark to his work.

"Is it okay to hire him given what he's gonna use that money for?" asked Kurloh.

Ja'Ina shrugged. "It's gonna have to be okay. We're kinda stuck."

* * *

For the next couple of hours, Ja'Ina, Kurloh and Fitty wandered around the city, as they had nothing else to do. They kept their Force senses and photoreceptor out for a certain angry Aqualish. They also didn't see Deoni anywhere, but they didn't care about her right now.

The three tried to avoid any more of the slave auction platforms as well. Kurloh and Ja'Ina did not want to become desensitized to the horrible practice. Still, they couldn't help but look when a slave would cry out, yell or howl or a crowd would cheer.

As they walked along, Ja'Ina turned to Kurloh. "Hey Ku, what do you think about Ark?"

"He's a very strange guy. I didn't sense any deception from him, but I sensed some confused, conflicting things from him."

"Yeah, me too. It's surprising that he'd be someone who'd want a slave. Otherwise he's a perfectly nice person. I don't think he'd be a cruel master."

"Well, I still don't like it," Kurloh said with a snarl.

"We can't be too picky now, can we? Maybe slavery is acceptable in his culture."

The Togruta scowled. "I don't care. Anyway-"

Just then, Ja'Ina grabbed Kurloh's arm and stopped cold in her tracks. "Something's not right."

"Of course it's not! People are being bought and sold all around us!"

Ja'Ina lowered her voice. "That's not what I mean…I sense an unpleasant, but familiar presence."

"Are you sure? Are you referring to a person?"

"I'm pretty sure it's a person."

"Someone you know?"

"Maybe…" Ja'Ina scanned their surroundings.

There were the slave platforms, dozens of beings walking up and down the roadway, some speeder traffic and beasts of burden. Ja'Ina closed her eyes and reached out through the Force. She slowly turned around and then stopped. She opened her eyes and icy chills shot up and down her spine.

Ja'Ina whispered, "…There…" Like a compass, she pointed to the source of her sensations.

Kurloh saw who she was pointing at. "That ugly Kusolan with the Rutian Twi'lek over there?"

Ja'Ina gave a twitching nod. "Yeah. It's Mehar…And Dun'ii."

"Your slaver? Are you sure?"

"Definitely…"

Mehar and Dun'ii did not notice Ja'Ina as they were standing on the other side of the wide street at least twenty meters away. Mehar was still his ugly self with the wart-pocked grey skin, orange eyes and wide nose. What was new about him was that he now sported a three-fingered mechanical claw that replaced his right hand, which Ja'Ina had hacked off while escaping his ship.

Dun'ii stood right next to him. She was wearing glossy silver hot pants and a matching sport top. Her bared midriff displayed a large scar in her blue skin from the wound Ja'Ina had inflicted upon her. The Twi'lek held her clasped hands down in front of her and looked anything but happy to be there.

A horned male Devaronian walked up to Mehar and they started conversing. Dun'ii stood by, not moving or speaking. After a few moments, Mehar and the Devaronian shook hands and the latter walked away. Mehar said something to Dun'ii and then motioned her to go with him as he turned and walked off.

Ja'Ina felt the rage swell up inside of her again. Kurloh sensed it and put a hand on her friend's shoulder, which snapped her out of it.

Ja'Ina shuddered and looked at the Togruta. "Thanks, Ku."

"Yeah, well it's good I was here to keep an eye on you. We don't want you falling to the dark side."

"Let's follow them," Ja'Ina insistently blurted.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Ina."

Ja'Ina had already started off to follow Mehar and Dun'ii. Fitty chirped and rolled off after her.

Kurloh called out. "Hey, wait up!"

* * *

Mehar and Dun'ii had left the main plaza and headed toward what looked like a residential area that was separated from the market district. The pirates carefully followed the slaver and slave, making sure they were not noticed.

Ja'Ina and Kurloh said nothing the whole time and the only sound that came from Fitty was the hum of the wheel servos in his feet. Ja'Ina hoped they'd find where Mehar lived. She couldn't believe that they happened upon him, of all the places in the galaxy.

Mehar and Dun'ii made their way through various side streets until they came to the very edge of the city. There, they entered the large residence, which looked more like a fortified compound. The building looked like an extravagant mansion several stories high situated many meters inside a reinforced wall about five meters high. A single large gate was the only entrance through the wall.

Kurloh and Ja'Ina peeked around a nearby corner.

"I don't believe it," Ja'Ina urgently whispered. "This must be where that pile of bantha dung lives!"

Kurloh was concerned. "You don't want to exact revenge on him, do you? That is a straight path to the dark side."

"I know, I know. I have to admit I am struggling with that feeling…" Ja'Ina thought for a moment. "But I think I have a better idea."

"What?"

"We are in desperate need of money, right?"

Kurloh pondered Ja'Ina's words for a moment then she realized what her idea was. "Oh, no, you can't do that! Don't be stupid!"

Fitty buzzed in agreement with the Togruta.

"No, it's perfect! I'm sure he'd pay a lot to have me after what I did to him! At the first opportunity, I'll escape. I've done it before, I can do it again. And now that I'm more in tune with the Force, it should be even easier."

"You're so sure you can do it?"

"Yeah! I'm not out to free anyone, I just think this is a very good way to get our hands on some substantial credits. Spiaré could be my master and he could sell me to Mehar."

"I don't think he'd go along with such a crazy plan."

"We won't know until we ask! Let's go. Hopefully Ark is almost done with the speeder."

* * *

After some time, Kurloh, Ja'Ina and Fitty made their way back to the landspeeder. Ark was not there, but the engines' access hatches were closed up again.

"Where did he go to?" Ja'Ina asked.

Kurloh took a look at the engines. "I dunno, but it looks like the speeder's fixed."

"Yeah, it is," Ark confirmed as he walked up. "…At least as much as I could do. It'll run, but you'll find it'll run kinda rough. You'll need to take it to a proper shop, but it should hold up for now."

Kurloh pulled out the rest of Ark's payment. "Thank you. Here you go."

"No, thank you! It was good doing business with you. But now I must be going. I've got to do what I came here for."

Ja'Ina grabbed Ark's arm. "Are you sure you won't reconsider?"

Ark removed her hand and smiled warmly at her. "I like you, Ja'Ina. But I'm not going to change my mind. Not for you or anyone."

Ja'Ina nodded and stepped back, fighting back tears. Despite the confusing sensations she read from Ark, she let him go.

Kurloh couldn't hide her disappointment. She said wryly, "well, good luck in whatever you do."

Ark nodded with a smile. "You too, Kurloh." He turned and walked away.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

* * *

"Why in the living Force would you want to do that?" Spiaré asked, surprised by Ja'Ina's wild idea.

Spiaré, Ja'Ina and Kurloh were alone in the common room aboard the _Queen Valkyrie_.

"I believe it's why we were led to him," Ja'Ina said. "I believe it was the will of the Force, given our dire straits, to have such an opportunity. I think we could really get a lot of money this way, maybe even enough to take care of anything and get our choobies outta here."

Kurloh spoke up. "I told her it was a barvy idea, Spiaré, but she wouldn't listen!"

The Jedi nodded with his arms across his chest. "Ja'Ina, it may seem like a good idea on the surface, but it is very dangerous. Escaping his ship is one thing. Escaping his compound is completely different. You don't know what you'll find in there. You don't know what he'll do to you."

Ja'Ina leaned forward over the table. "But I won't give him an opportunity to do anything!"

"The Force is strong with you, but that alone doesn't guarantee success."

"I can't believe I'm going to say this," Kurloh sighed. "…Ina's insanity must be contagious… But what if I go too, I mean, to be sold off with her? That could give us even more money, and the two of us together would have a much better chance at escaping."

"Hmmm," the Jedi thought for a moment. "Yes it is crazy, but also has some wisdom in it. I feel more comfortable about the two of you trying this together."

Ja'Ina clapped her hands. "Yes! I like that idea too! Ku, with us together, Mehar won't stand a chance!"

"Berini won't approve," Spiaré said. "I'm sure Soraa wouldn't either."

"We won't tell them! As far as they'll know, it's just another day of work. We'll be back before they know anything."

"At any rate, I'll stick as close to you as I can after the 'sale'. I'm not sure how much assistance I'll be able to give you, but I'll do all I can." Spiaré reclined and took a deep breath. "I do need to maintain my anonymity here so there isn't much I can do openly."

Ja'Ina toned down her excitement and adopted a more serious tone. "We understand, Spiaré. We wouldn't want you to compromise your identity for us."

Spiaré thoughtfully nodded. While he ultimately agreed to their idea, he couldn't shake his concerns.

* * *

Later on, Ja'Ina and Kurloh visited with Soraa to see how she was doing. They relayed to her what had happened that day, from Deoni murdering the young man then disappearing, to the speeder vandalism and repair.

Soraa listened to the whole story in amazement. "So in the end you still weren't able to bring much back again, huh?"

Kurloh rubbed her face. "Yeah, it's really disappointing. We haven't heard much from the other teams either. Rann reported that an Imperial force landed in the other city, so we don't expect her team to bring back much either."

"Those karking Imperials will not stop until we're all dead!"

"I'm not sure they came specifically for us," Ja'Ina added. "I admit that it's hard to be certain of that though."

"Anyway, I should be taking my bacta swim tomorrow morning."

Ja'Ina gave Soraa a big smile. "I'm glad! Now you'll be getting back into shape again. We've missed you out there."

"Thanks. I've missed the action too. I've been bored as hell, but I did get to spend some time with Aurelia today, which was nice."

"So you got out of your 'prison cell' for a while, eh?" Kurloh added with a smile. "Good! Aurelia's such a sweetheart."

Both Soraa and Ja'Ina nodded in agreement.

* * *

That evening, the crew convened for the day's debriefing. Soraa attended as she wasn't feeling too bad. Yifu was also back from her bacta treatment; the young Twi'lek still sported a few bandages but was otherwise none the worse for wear. Spiaré was absent this time.

Once again, Myrrna was disappointed. "What is wrong with all of you?! Rann, your team brought back nothing! At least the others brought back a little and we'll use it to purchase more parts for the ship. Still, at this rate we will not be able to leave by the time Soraa's done with her treatment as the Captain wanted, if we'll _ever_ be able to leave at all!"

Upset, Rann countered, "Myrrna, the Imps made it damn near impossible for us to pull any thieving! Do you want us to get arrested?!"

"She's right," Kurloh added. "We've had enough run-ins with the Empire. We can't needlessly jeopardize our position right now. I'm sure Berini would agree."

Myrrna ignored the Togruta's comment. "At least Deoni got us some results! That's how you do it!" She scanned the room. "Where is she?"

Ja'Ina responded. "We don't know. She disappeared after she gave us the money."

"And then you wasted most of it on having someone repair your speeder! You should have been able to fix it yourselves!"

Kurloh stood up, baring her sharp Togruta canines. "Now you're being unreasonable! Not everyone is technically-oriented. Our crew's diversity is its strength."

"Specialization leads to single-point failures! You should understand that!"

Rann also stood up. "I don't want to argue this anymore. We're just going to try again tomorrow. And we're _not _going to needlessly kill anyone like Deoni did!" She stormed out of the common room, slightly limping on her pained cybernetic leg.

Myrrna seethed. "Come back here!" Her scarred lekku throbbed from her anger.

Rann ignored her as she left.

Myrrna let out a feral growl and turned her back to the others. Through the Force, Kurloh and Ja'Ina could sense the Twi'lek's anger grow to a dangerous level. They feared that she would do something rash if she continued this trend.

* * *

Spiaré stood right outside the door of the common room. He joined Soraa, Kurloh and Ja'Ina as they exited.

The Jedi turned to Soraa and squeezed her shoulder. "My dear, would you mind if I take Kurloh and Ja'Ina for a little while?"

Soraa smiled at him. She knew what was going on since she now knew Ja'Ina's and Kurloh's secret. "Sure thing. I'm tired after the excitement in there anyway so I'm going to sleep."

Spiaré stopped Kurloh and Ja'Ina and they watched as Soraa shuffled away. He led them to the hangar bay and the three went to a dimly-lit far corner behind the _Lucky Star_ and some large crates.

Spiaré whispered to the young women. "Okay, here's my thinking. Once the deal goes down, you'll have to make it quick to make your escape. I can't stand by for very long."

Ja'Ina was confident in her idea. "We know. We'll break away before Mehar even gets us inside his compound."

"Well, just make sure that you keep alert the entire time. Everything depends on your ability to get away and shake any pursuit he'll give."

"Heh, he has only Gamorreans. We'll outrun them easily."

Spiaré rubbed the graying stubble on his chin in thought. "Well, try to not utilize the Force too much to aid your escape. If you catch anyone's attention with your abilities, you'll be relentlessly hunted down as suspected Jedi."

"We'll try to be reserved," Kurloh reassured him.

Spiaré was not convinced. He knew that they would need to use their abilities in order to successfully get away. He just hoped that no one would notice. At least there shouldn't be any other Force users around to sense their activities.

"Either way," he continued, "I won't be carrying my lightsaber."

Ja'Ina broke into a sweat. "What?!"

Kurloh shook her head. "Think about it, Ina. If anyone saw his lightsaber, he would instantly be identified as a Jedi."

Spiaré nodded in agreement. "That's right. I'll take a blaster, though I don't expect to need it for more than appearances."

"Sounds good, I suppose," Ja'Ina said. "Now then, here's the idea I have for our story. I think you'll like it…" She gave them a confident smile as she shared her plan.

* * *

That evening, Ja'Ina was preparing for bed in their quarters. Soraa already lay half asleep in her bunk; both women were thoroughly tired. Ja'Ina changed into her nightclothes and was getting ready to bed down when she felt an unpleasant sensation. It was not unlike the one she felt the other morning before the first outing. She quickly stood up and moved towards the door.

Soraa sleepily gazed over at her friend. "What is it, Ina?"

"Stay put," Ja'Ina answered in quiet urgency.

Soraa shook out of her sleepiness and reflexively shot her hand under her pillow, ready to grab her hold-out blaster.

Ja'Ina stood just inside the door for a moment and then threw it open. She startled a pair of crewmates who just happened to be walking by.

"Sorry about that!" She peered up and down the corridor and exhaled.

Ja'Ina began to pull herself back inside when someone entering the corridor caught the corner of her eye. She snapped her head over to take a look. It was Deoni, looking tired and a bit ragged.

Deoni was the last person Ja'Ina had expected to see on the ship. She stepped out into the corridor to face the Zeltron. "You!"

Deoni waved her hand in front of her to brush off her angry comrade. "I don't wanna hear it," she tiredly said.

Ja'Ina balled her fists, "You've got a lot of nerve after what you pulled!"

Deoni continued to walk towards Ja'Ina, ignoring the latter's disposition. When she reached Ja'Ina, she shoved a small case into the young woman's hands. "Here, take this."

Ja'Ina was confused. "What's this?"

"About seven grand," Deoni said flatly. "Good night." She continued walking past Ja'Ina with a big yawn.

Ja'Ina spun around. "How many people did you kill for this?!"

Deoni continued to walk away, not turning to face Ja'Ina. "Trust me; I didn't kill anyone else today."

Ja'Ina stood there and watched in disbelief as Deoni disappeared down the corridor. After a few moments, Ja'Ina returned to their quarters and closed the door. She placed the case on the small desk without opening it.

Soraa pulled her hand back out, leaving the small blaster in its hiding place. "What was that all about?"

"I dunno. The whole thing was really strange. What I sensed from her was very confusing. I don't know what to make of it."

"You mean through the Force?" Soraa was still getting used to the idea of her best friend being a Force-sensitive.

"Yeah. Thing is, I don't know if my initial feeling was linked to her or not. But the timing of her appearance was more than coincidental. I think we need to keep a closer eye on her."

Soraa silently nodded and lay back down. Ja'Ina turned out the light and climbed up to the top bunk. They talked for a little while before going to sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

* * *

Early the next morning, Ja'Ina awoke and quietly changed into her regular breechcloth and bikini top outfit. Soraa woke up a few minutes later as Ja'Ina was gathering up her things.

Soraa rubbed her eyes as she glanced at the chronometer. "Ina, isn't it too early?"

Ja'Ina turned and smiled at her. "No, our plan was to head out earlier today. We're going to try something different so we can get the last of the money we need and get outta here once you're healed up."

"What're you going to do?"

Ja'Ina knew that question would come, and hearing it spoken made her nervous. If Soraa found out that Mehar was here or that Ja'Ina was going to try to con him, she'd most certainly have a meltdown. Ready or not, the ruse had to begin now.

"We've found a place farther out that should yield us some very good results. We just wanted to make sure we'd be back by dinnertime." She sat down next to Soraa on the bed and took her hand.

"Well just stay safe, okay Ina?"

"I will, I promise. You focus on getting better. I expect to see you in much better shape after your bacta tank treatment." She smiled at Soraa and held her gaze.

Soraa looked back at Ja'Ina, unsure of what to think of her expression. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Ja'Ina replied. It hurt her to have to hide her true plans from Soraa. She didn't anticipate how hard it would be, but she knew that if Soraa was privy to her dangerous plan, she would try to stop her. Soraa didn't need the added stress of that knowledge while trying to convalesce. Ja'Ina chose to take it upon herself to keep it from Soraa until after it was all over.

"I'm just glad you're going to get your turn in the bacta tank today," Ja'Ina added. "We should be back before you get out."

"Will you be there?"

"We'll see. I'd like to be, but it depends on how long we have to be out."

"I hope you will be."

Ja'Ina thought for a moment then smiled. "Okay then, you can count on it!"

Soraa reclined back in her bunk with a relaxed sigh. "Thank you."

Ja'Ina hugged her friend, careful to not agitate her wounds. "I love you, Soraa. I'll always be there for you." Ja'Ina held the embrace for a while, then pulled back and looked right into her dear friend's eyes. "Remember that."

"I love you too, Ina. Please be careful."

"I will. When I come back, we'll get off this cursed rock and head to our safe haven in the Corporate Sector, away from the Empire."

Ja'Ina placed her hand on the side of Soraa's face and gave her a warm smile. Soraa warmly smiled back.

Ja'Ina stood up and grabbed her gear. "You take care of yourself, Soraa."

Soraa looked up at Ja'Ina. "You too, Ina."

Ja'Ina stepped out into the corridor and turned to snap Soraa a small wave goodbye, which Soraa reciprocated. The two friends were much closer than sisters, and they felt a mutual pain with their parting. Ja'Ina even more so; hiding her true and dangerous plans from Soraa sent her emotions into a spin and she had to fight it to stay focused.

* * *

Ja'Ina met Kurloh and Spiaré at their landspeeder in the hangar bay. Kurloh was dressed in an oversized utility jumpsuit that looked well-worn and dirty. She also wore heavy, dirty work boots. She handed a similar jumpsuit and pair of boots to Ja'Ina, who promptly put them on. She finished her look by pulling some of her long raven hair out of the thick braid to give it a messy, unkempt look. Both of the pirates smeared a little dirt on their faces and hands. Spiaré wore his cloak and had a blaster holstered at his side.

Ja'Ina had taken her scimitar out of her quarters with her for appearances, but then hid it in the _Lucky Star_ for safe keeping. She kept her long dagger strapped to her thigh inside her jumpsuit. Similarly, Kurloh carried a small blaster inside hers.

Spiaré looked the young women over. "While I prefer your regular clothes, you still look good." He gave them a playful smile and wink, trying to lighten up the situation. He could sense that both of them were very tense.

Ja'Ina knew what the Jedi was trying to do, so she played into it. "Hmmm, look good for someone who's about to be sold into slavery, huh?" She patted Kurloh on the back.

Spiaré stepped into the landspeeder and started up the engines. They came to life with new power they were lacking since they were vandalized. Myrrna had actually spent much of the previous night making further repairs to bring the speeder back up to proper performance.

"Alright girls, let's go."

Ja'Ina and Kurloh climbed in with him.

Spiaré drove the landspeeder slowly down the ramp. Once clear, the ramp closed back up into the _Queen Valkyrie_'s belly.

Before the group left the landing pad, two people stepped out of the pale pre-dawn shadows into the bright ventral flood-lumas of the ship. Spiaré, Kurloh and Ja'Ina turned to the newcomers. The young women recognized one of them.

Ja'Ina squeaked, "Ark?!"

"Good morning!" Ark called out. A girl walked beside him.

Kurloh frowned with disgust. "Why are _you_ here? You just wanted to show off your…your…" She couldn't say the word.

"Sister," he finished. "My sister."

Kurloh and Ja'Ina looked at each other, quite confused. "Sister?" they said in unison.

Ark and his sister walked right up to the landspeeder. Spiaré smiled and nodded silently to the siblings.

"Yes, this is my sister, Beniika. Thanks to you, I had enough credits to buy her freedom. I just wanted to thank you, and to give you this." He opened a small purse and pulled out some credits. "This was left over from the money I earned from you."

"How did you find us?" Ja'Ina asked.

"Simple. I planted a small tracking device on your speeder while I was working on it. If I was able to rescue Benii, I wanted to make sure I could find you and thank you; assuming you were still on the planet."

Kurloh furrowed her brow in annoyance. "Why didn't you just tell us the truth yesterday, Ark?"

"I wanted to make sure no one overheard my true intentions. If anyone at the auction knew my relation to her, they would have made sure I would not win her freedom."

Spiaré looked at the young man, visibly impressed. "That was very wise of you…and valiant."

Ark bowed slightly to the Jedi. "Thank you, sir." He turned back to the women and held out the credits. "And here you go, ladies."

Kurloh reached to receive the money. "Thank you-"

Spiaré grabbed the Togruta's arm. "That won't be necessary, Ark. You keep it. I'm sure you have more use for it than we do."

Kurloh jumped in. "But-"

The Jedi shot a reprimanding eye at the Togruta, who then backed off. He turned back to Ark. "Please keep it."

Ark was surprised. "I-I don't know what to say…"

"Say nothing. Just go and live your lives in peace and goodness."

"Y-yes sir, we will." Ark bowed again to Spiaré.

Beniika stepped forward and also bowed. She spoke with a gentle voice. "Thank you all. We will never forget you and your kindness. I owe you my life."

Ja'Ina smiled at the girl. "Just make sure you take the opportunity you've been given to live an honest and long happy life."

"We're going to start by leaving this terrible planet," Ark replied. "Our parents are dead so all we have is each other. Thank you, and farewell!"

Ark and Benii turned and walked hand-in-hand out of the light that shone on the landing pad from the _Queen Valkyrie_'s floodlights.

Ja'Ina, Kurloh and Spiaré silently watched as the brother and sister walked away. The Jedi and Force-sensitives shared a pleasant, invigorating moment basking in the living Force, fed by the positive aura swirling around the reunited siblings.

Spiaré then started up the landspeeder and the three of them were on their way to carry out their risky plan to con the slaver Mehar…

* * *

_Author's Note: Here is the end of yet another episode. Episode VI will bring the story to an exciting climax and conclusion!  
_

_You can find Episode VI at: www fanfiction net/s/9098177/1/The-Best-Laid-Plans-Episode-VI_

_Also, thank you so much for reading this far!_


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